While the Wilms tumor/genitourinary anomalies and aniridia are caused by deletion of WT1 and PAX6 respectively, the genomic cause of mental retardation and autism in WAGR syndrome remains unknown.
Copy-number variants and truncating mutations in SHANK genes were present in ∼1% of patients with ASD: mutations in SHANK1 were rare (0.04%) and present in males with normal IQ and autism; mutations in SHANK2 were present in 0.17% of patients with ASD and mild intellectual disability; mutations in SHANK3 were present in 0.69% of patients with ASD and up to 2.12% of the cases with moderate to profound intellectual disability.
Mutations in <i>SHANK1-3</i> are prevalent in patients with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and loss of one copy of <i>SHANK3</i> causes Phelan-McDermid Syndrome, a syndrome in which Autism occurs in >80% of cases.
The discovery of apparent reduced penetrance of ASD in females bearing inherited autosomal SHANK1 deletions provides a possible contributory model for the male gender bias in autism.
One such gene is CNTNAP2 encoding contactin-associated protein 2 (CASPR2), which harbours mutations associated to autism, schizophrenia, and intellectual disability.
We propose dividing syndromic autism into the following two groups: (i) ASD that occurs in the context of a clinically defined syndrome-recognizing these disorders depends on the familiarity of the clinician with the features of the syndrome, and the diagnosis is typically confirmed by targeted genetic testing (eg, mutation screening of FMR1); (ii) ASD that occurs as a feature of a molecularly defined syndrome-for this group of patients, ASD-associated variants are identified by genome-wide testing that is not hypothesis driven (eg, microarray, whole exome sequencing).
Mutations in the contactin-associated protein 2 (CNTNAP2) gene encoding CASPR2, a neurexin-related cell-adhesion molecule, predispose to autism, but the function of CASPR2 in neural circuit assembly remains largely unknown.
In this study, we evaluated 203 Thai children who met the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV), for autistic disorder or pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), and who had neither major dysmorphic features nor CGG repeat expansions of the FMR1 gene.
Genetic variation in the contactin associated protein-like 2 (CNTNAP2) gene, including copy number variations, exon deletions, truncations, single nucleotide variants, and polymorphisms have been associated with intellectual disability, epilepsy, schizophrenia, language disorders, and autism.
Shank3 mutation in a mouse model of autism leads to changes in the S-nitroso-proteome and affects key proteins involved in vesicle release and synaptic function.
To enquire on the relevance and frequency of neuroligin mutations in ASD, we performed a mutation screening of NLGN3 and NLGN4X in a sample of 124 autism probands from the International Molecular Genetic Study of Autism Consortium (IMGSAC).
Here, we utilized the Shank3B mutant mouse model of autism to investigate how Shank3 mutation may differentially affect striatonigral (direct pathway) and striatopallidal (indirect pathway) medium spiny neurons (MSNs) and its relevance to repetitive grooming behavior in Shank3B mutant mice.
Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-derived Cortical Neurons for High Throughput Medication Screening in Autism: A Proof of Concept Study in SHANK3 Haploinsufficiency Syndrome.
The convergence between genetic findings and cognitive-behavioral models of autism provides evidence that genetic variation at CNTNAP2 predisposes to diseases such as autism in part through modulation of frontal lobe connectivity.
A genetic defect causing autism and epilepsy involving the contactin associated protein-like 2 gene (CNTNAP2) has been discovered in a selected cohort of Amish children.
We investigated several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of Forkhead Box P2 (FOXP2) and Protein-Tyrosine Phosphatase, Receptor-type, Zeta-1 (PTPRZ1) at the 7q region in Japanese patients with autism and healthy controls.
We show that individuals with mutations in ADNP have many overlapping clinical features that are distinctive from those of other autism and/or intellectual disability syndromes.
However, the male children carrying 4 tandem repeats in the promoter region of the MAOA gene showed a two-fold higher risk of AU (or AU+ASD) than those carrying allele 3, adjusted for confounders (OR = 2.02, 95% CI = 1.12, 3.65, P = 0.02 for AU vs. TD, and OR = 2.05, 95% CI = 1.19, 3.53, P = 0.01 for ASD vs. TD).
Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) is the main genetic cause of autism and intellectual deficiency resulting the absence of the Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein (FMRP).