Female mice lacking Ftx lncRNA exhibit impaired X-chromosome inactivation and a microphthalmia-like phenotype

Yusuke Hosoi, Miki Soma, Hirosuke Shiura, Takashi Sado, Hidetoshi Hasuwa, Kuniya Abe, Takashi Kohda, Fumitoshi Ishino and Shin Kobayashi ()
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Yusuke Hosoi: Medical Research Institute, Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU)
Miki Soma: Medical Research Institute, Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU)
Hirosuke Shiura: Medical Research Institute, Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU)
Takashi Sado: Graduate School of Agriculture, Kindai University
Hidetoshi Hasuwa: Osaka University
Kuniya Abe: Technology and Development Team for Mammalian Genome Dynamics, RIKEN BioResource Research Center
Takashi Kohda: Medical Research Institute, Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU)
Fumitoshi Ishino: Medical Research Institute, Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU)
Shin Kobayashi: Medical Research Institute, Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU)

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) is an essential epigenetic process in female mammalian development. Although cell-based studies suggest the potential importance of the Ftx long non-protein-coding RNA (lncRNA) in XCI, its physiological roles in vivo remain unclear. Here we show that targeted deletion of X-linked mouse Ftx lncRNA causes eye abnormalities resembling human microphthalmia in a subset of females but rarely in males. This inheritance pattern cannot be explained by X-linked dominant or recessive inheritance, where males typically show a more severe phenotype than females. In Ftx-deficient mice, some X-linked genes remain active on the inactive X, suggesting that defects in random XCI in somatic cells cause a substantially female-specific phenotype. The expression level of Xist, a master regulator of XCI, is diminished in females homozygous or heterozygous for Ftx deficiency. We propose that loss-of-Ftx lncRNA abolishes gene silencing on the inactive X chromosome, leading to a female microphthalmia-like phenotype.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-06327-6

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