The Xist lncRNA silences transcription

Nature, Volume 521, issue 7551, 27 April 2015
Colleen A. McHugh, Mitchell Guttman, The Xist lncRNA interacts directly with SHARP to silence transcription through HDAC3

“Many long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) affect gene expression, but the mechanisms by which they act are still largely unknown. One of the best-studied lncRNAs is Xist, which is required for transcriptional silencing of one X chromosome during development in female mammals. Despite extensive efforts to define the mechanism of Xist-mediated transcriptional silencing, we still do not know any proteins required for this role.
We identify ten proteins that specifically associate with Xist, three of these proteins—SHARP, SAF-A and LBR—are required for Xist-mediated transcriptional silencing.
Our results suggest that Xist silences transcription by directly interacting with SHARP, recruiting SMRT, activating HDAC3, and deacetylating histones to exclude Pol II across the X chromosome.”

Illustrator.