Results indicated shared features between the CHD8 and target groups that included less severe adaptive deficits in communication skills, similar functional language, more social motivation challenges in those with ASD, larger head circumference, higher weight, and lower seizure prevalence relative to the other gene group.
Participants (N = 116, ages 4-22 years) included a cohort with ADNP mutations (n = 11) and three comparison groups with either a mutation to CHD8 (n = 11), a mutation to another ASD-associated gene (other mutation; n = 53), or ASD with no known genetic etiology (idiopathic ASD; n = 41).
Finally, CHD7 and CHD8 bind in OPCs to a majority of ASD risk-associated genes, suggesting an implication of oligodendrocyte lineage cells in ASD neurological defects.
Chromodomain helicase DNA binding protein 8 (<i>CHD8</i>) encodes a chromatin remodeling factor with among the highest <i>de novo</i> loss-of-function mutation rates in patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
We generated germline mutant mice with loss-of-function mutations in Chd8, a de novo mutation strongly associated with ASD, and demonstrate that these mice display hallmark ASD behaviors, macrocephaly, and craniofacial abnormalities similar to patient phenotypes.
Recently, disruptive CHD8 mutations were described in patients with similar phenotypes further showing pivotal role of CHD8 gene in the pathogenesis of DD/ID or ASDs.
Our findings link NRXN2 disruption to the pathogenesis of ASD for the first time and further strengthen the involvement of NRXN1 in SCZ, supporting the notion of a common genetic mechanism in these disorders.
The deletion contains several genes including PPP2R5B, which has been associated with intellectual disability and overgrowth; NRXN2, which has been associated with intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder; and CDCA5, which is part of the cohesin pathway, as are all the five known CdLS genes.
In autism spectrum disorder (ASD), as well as in other neurodevelopmental conditions, rare exonic copy-number variants and/or point mutations have been identified in the NRXN1 and NRXN2 loci.
Gephyrin has well-established functional links with several synaptic proteins that have been implicated in genetic risk for neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), schizophrenia and epilepsy including the neuroligins (NLGN2, NLGN4), the neurexins (NRXN1, NRXN2, NRXN3) and collybistin (ARHGEF9).
Recent studies have strongly implicated postsynaptic scaffolding proteins such as SAPAP3 or Shank3 in the pathogenesis of various mood disorders, including autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder (BD), and obsessive-compulsive disorders.
Case report: an unexpected link between partial deletion of the SHANK3 gene and Heller's dementia infantilis, a rare subtype of autism spectrum disorder.
We show a paternally inherited miR-873-5p variant with altered binding affinity for several risk-genes including NRXN2 and CNTNAP2 putatively overlay maternally inherited loss-of-function coding variations in NRXN1 and CNTNAP2 to likely increase the genetic liability in an idiopathic ASD case.
Mutations in ASD-associated SHANK3 in mice (Shank3B<sup>-/-</sup>) result in the accelerated maturation of corticostriatal circuits during the second and third postnatal weeks.
SHANK3 has been described in the Phelan-McDermid syndrome (PMS), but also in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and schizophrenia associated to moderate to severe intellectual disability (ID) and poor language.
To assess its population impact we studied 2148 common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) using transmission disequilibrium test (TDT) across the entire ~3.3 Mb CNTNAP2 locus in 186 (408 trios) multiplex and 323 simplex families with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD).
To further analyse the involvement of SHANK3 in ASD, we screened the International Molecular Genetic Study of Autism Consortium (IMGSAC) multiplex family sample, 330 families, for SNP association and copy number variants (CNVs) in SHANK3.
Studies of genomic copy number variants (CNVs) have identified genes associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID) such as NRXN1, SHANK2, SHANK3 and PTCHD1.
These findings reveal a key contribution of ASD-associated gene CNTNAP2 in modulating macroscale functional connectivity, and suggest that homozygous loss-of-function mutations in this gene may predispose to neurodevelopmental disorders and autism through a selective dysregulation of connectivity in integrative prefrontal areas.
A total of 110 adult patients with ASD (n=61) or ADHD (n=49) with or without a lifetime history of SUD participated in a study in which we genotyped polymorphisms in five known candidate genes for (one of) the disorders, i.e. the 5HTTLPR in SLC6A4/5-HTT, rs1800497 (TaqIA C>T) in DRD2, rs7794745 in CNTNAP2, rs1843809 in TPH2, and rs6565113 in CDH13.
Mice deficient in Cntnap2 (Cntnap2-/- mice) show core ASD-like phenotypes, and have been demonstrated as a validated model for ASD-relevant drug discovery.