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Rethinking disomy: Autosomal expression bias

delete2026-03-23
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DOI:10.1084/jem.20241044delete
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Abstract

Abstract

En 中文
Humans are disomic. At birth, all nucleated cells in the body have the same genetic material, composed of 22 pairs of autosomes and a pair of sex chromosomes. Half the chromosomes are maternal, and half are paternal. It is thought that the two copies of autosomal genes are equally transcribed and translated in a given cell. This notion, based on Mendelian genetics, has guided the identification of genetic variants capable of causing disease for a century. These variants have been classified as displaying dominant or recessive inheritance. The term penetrance was coined to explain why some individuals carrying disease-causing variants do not develop the disease. Differences in penetrance are often assumed to be due to largely unproven effects of the environment, polygenic effects, and/or mosaicism. More recently, autosomal random monoallelic expression (aRMAE)-a phenomenon in which one of the two parental alleles of a gene is more strongly or exclusively expressed in some, but not all, cells-has been put forward to account for the incomplete penetrance observed in a growing number of genetic conditions. Here, we review aRMAE from historical, biochemical, genetic, epigenetic, and disease-influencing perspectives and propose a new framework.
Keywords:
MONOALLELIC GENE-EXPRESSION
ALLELIC EXPRESSION
CHROMATIN
CELLS
IL-4

Journal

J
Journal of Experimental Medicine
IF:
10.6
Papers:
2.4W
Citations:
6.2W

Organization

C
columbia university
Scholars:
5.4K
Papers: 2.3K
Citations: 2