association of the Xi with macro-histone H2A is also disturbed by PNA interference mapping. X-inactivation centre (XIC) The Xist RNA gene lies within the X-inactivation centre (XIC), which plays a major role in Xist expression and X-inactivation. The XIC is located on the q arm of the X chromosome (Xq13). XIC regulates Xist in cis X-inactivation, where Tsix, an antisense of Xist, downregulates the expression of Xist. The Xist promoter of XIC is the master regulator of X-inactivation. X-inactivation plays a key role in dosage compensation. Tsix antisense transcript The Tsix antisense gene is a transcript of the Xist gene at the XIC center. The Tsix antisense transcript acts in cis to repress the transcription of Xist, which negatively regulates its expression. The mechanism behind how Tsix modulates Xist activity in cis is poorly understood; however, there are a few theories on its mechanism. One theory is that Tsix is involved in chromatin modification at the Xist locus and another is that transcription factors of pluripotent cells play a role in Xist repression. Regulation of the Xist promoter Methylation The Tsix antisense is believed to activate DNA methyl transferases that methylate the Xist promoter, in return resulting in inhibition of the Xist promoter and thus the expression of the Xist gene. Methylation of histone 3 lysine 4 (H3K4) produces an active chromatin structure, which recruits transcription factors and thus allows for transcription to occur, therefore in this case the transcription of Xist. dsRNA and RNAi A dsRNA and RNAi pathway have been also proposed to play a role in regulation of the Xist Promoter. Dicer is an RNAi enzyme and it is believed to cleave the duplex of Xist and Tsix at the beginning of X-inactivation, to small ~30 nucleotide RNAs, which have been termed xiRNAs, These xiRNAs are believed to be involved in repressing Xist on the probable active X chromosome based upon studies. A study was conducted where normal endogenous Dicer levels were decreased to 5%, which led to an increase in Xist expression in undifferentiated cells, thus supporting the role of xiRNAs in Xist repression. The role and mechanism of xiRNAs is still under examination and debate. Tsix independent mechanisms Pluripotent cell transcriptional factors Pluripotent stem cells express transcription factors Nanog, Oct4 and Sox2 that seem to play a role in repressing Xist. In the absence of Tsix in pluripotent cells, Xist is repressed, where a mechanism