Expression analysis in mouse female PGK12.1 ES cells by RNA-seq

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’). Although this hypothesis is well supported by expression analyses of individual X-linked genes and by array-based transcriptome analyses, a recent study claimed that no such X upregulation exists in mammals and C. elegans based on RNA-sequencing and proteomics analyses. We provide RNA-seq RNA-seq analysis of mouse female PGK12.1 ES cells with two active X chromosomes and confirmed that the X chromosome is upregulated, consistent with the previous microarray study. Examination of expression of X-linked and autosomal genes in mouse female ES cells with two active X chromosomes.