Humans only need one active X chromosome, which means that people with two must shut one down to avoid doubling up on its protein products. The gene tasked with inactivating one X, called XIST, codes for a long noncoding RNA that coats and epigenetically silences the extra X chromosome early in the development of people with two X chromosomes. XIST has previously been linked to cancer in females, as well as to testicular cancer. Now, in a study published November 9 in Cell Systems, researchers have found XIST activity in cancers in various somatic tissues of males, too.
Irregular XIST activity has been linked to testicular cancers, which arise from male germ cells. But in the new study, the researchers found high levels of XIST RNA in male somatic cells sampled from cancerous tissues. While the study doesn’t show a causal link been XIST expression and male cancers, it finds ...
