Y. Goto et N. Takagi, Maternally inherited X chromosome is not inactivated in mouse blastocysts due to parental imprinting, CHROMOS RES, 8(2), 2000, pp. 101-109
Mouse embryos having an additional maternally inherited X chromosome (X-M)
invariably die before midgestation with the deficient extraembryonic ectode
rm of the polar trophectoderm lineage, whereas postnatal mice having an add
itional paternally inherited X chromosome (X-P) survive beyond parturition.
A cytogenetic study led us to hypothesize that abnormal development of suc
h embryos disomic for X-M (DsX(M)) is attributable to two doses of active X
-M chromosome in extraembryonic tissues. To test the validity of this hypot
hesis, we examined the initial X chromosome inactivation pattern in embryos
at the blastocyst stage by means of replication banding method as well as
RNA FISH detecting Xist transcripts. X-P was the only asynchronously replic
ating X chromosome, if any, in (XXXP)-X-M-X-M blastocysts, and no such allo
cyclic X chromosome was ever detected in (XXY)-X-M-Y-M blastocysts. In agre
ement with these findings, only one Xist paint signal was detected in 79% o
f (XXXP)-X-M-X-M cells, whereas no such signal was found in (XXY)-X-M-Y-M e
mbryos. Thus, the present study supports the hypothesis that two X chromoso
mes remaining active in the extraembryonic cell lineages due to the materna
l imprinting explain the underdevelopment of extraembryonic structures and
hence early postimplantation death of DsX(M) embryos.