The Xist RNA, a large (17 kb in humans)[8] transcript, is expressed on the inactive chromosome and not on the active one. It is processed in a similar way to mRNAs, through splicing and polyadenylation. However, it remains untranslated. It has been suggested that this RNA gene evolved at least partly from a protein-coding gene that became a pseudogene.[9] The inactive X chromosome is coated with this transcript, which is essential for the inactivation.[10] X chromosomes lacking Xist will not be inactivated, while duplication of the Xist gene on another chromosome causes inactivation of that chromosome.[11]
^Brown CJ, Ballabio A, Rupert JA, Lafreniere RG, Grompe M, Tonlorenzi R, Willard HF (Jan 1991). "A gene from the region of the human X inactivation centre is expressed exclusively from the inactive X chromosome". Nature. 349 (6304): 38–44. Bibcode:1991Natur.349...38B. doi:10.1038/349038a0. PMID1985261. S2CID4332325.
^Lee JT (2011). "Gracefully ageing at 50, X-chromosome inactivation becomes a paradigm for RNA and chromatin control". Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology. 12 (12): 815–26. doi:10.1038/nrm3231. PMID22108600. S2CID21881827.