Enrichment profiles of Ser-5 phosphorylated RNA polymerase II (PolII S5p) in mouse female ES cells. Mus musculus

Many animal species employ a chromosome-based mechanism of sex determination, which has led to coordinate evolution of dosage compensation systems. Dosage compensation not only corrects the imbalance in the number of X-chromosomes between the sexes, but is also hypothesized to correct dosage imbalance within cells due to mono-allelic X expression and bi-allelic autosomal expression, by upregulating X-linked genes (termed ‘Ohno’s hypothesis’). It is unknown whether any epigenetic mark or protein is involved in X upregulation in mammals. Ser-5 phosphorylated RNA polymerase II (PolII S5p) is required for transcription initiation. Chromatin immunoprecipitation combined with DNA tiling array analysis (ChIP-chip) of PolII S5p in mouse female ES cells with two active X chromosomes demonstrated a greater enrichment of RNA polymerase II on X-linked genes relative to autosomal genes, suggesting that enhanced transcription initiation may play a role in X upregulation. Overall design: Comparison of RNA PolII S5p enrichment on the X versus autosomes in mouse