News Finding: By bridging the S1 and S2 compartments, SMCHD1 was found to induce their merging into the conformation that prevents gene expression.
Paper Finding: Cumulative distribution plots showed a significant right shift of X-linked gene expression (red) relative to autosomal profiles (black) in Smchd1 À/À cells ( Figure 1D ).
News Context: They then found that the loss of SMCHD1 prevented the spreading of Xist across the chromosome and kept the two large domains, which the team named S1 and S2 compartments, from being merged into the typical compartment-less inactive X structure. By bridging the S1 and S2 compartments, SMCHD1 was found to induce their merging into the conformation that prevents gene expression. She says, "The knowledge gained could also be used to reactivate the inactive X chromosome to treat certain diseases, such as the neurodevelopmental disorders Rett syndrome and CDKL5 disorder.
Paper Context: Apart from expected autosomal changes (e.g., protocadherin a [Pcdha]) (Gendrel et al., 2013; Mould et al., 2013) (Figures 1C and S2C) , a fraction of X-linked genes was also upregulated (Figures 1C and S2B) . Cumulative distribution plots showed a significant right shift of X-linked gene expression (red) relative to autosomal profiles (black) in Smchd1 À/À cells ( Figure 1D ). Approximately 30% (383/1275) of genes were downregulated, but they were not enriched on the X chromosome ( Figure S2B ).