Blood from individuals with autism could help researchers identify biomarkers to diagnose the disorder and learn more about related symptoms, such as gastrointestinal complaints, says molecular biologist Valerie Hu.
SP1, a protein that regulates the expression of several autism candidate genes, could increase risk of the disorder by simultaneously altering the expression of a number of the genes, according to a study published 24 October in Biological Psychiatry.
HMGN1, a protein that regulates gene expression, leads to social deficits and hyperactivity when expressed at elevated levels in mice, according to a study published 9 December in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. This effect may result from HMGN1 dampening MeCP2 expression, the study suggests.
In the brains of some individuals with autism, chemical changes to histones, proteins entwined with DNA, tend to show up near genes linked to the disorder, according to a study published 7 November in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
Researchers have derived neurons from stem cells to investigate mutations that lead to Rett and fragile X syndromes.
Deletion of 22q11, a schizophrenia-associated chromosomal region, may activate previously silent mutations, according to unpublished work presented Sunday at the 2011 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
In a video interview at the 2011 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, D.C., Janine LaSalle makes a case for the importance of the methylome in autism research.
The Rett syndrome gene MeCP2 may subtly regulate the expression of genes across the genome by altering DNA structure.
A massive association study links five new genetic regions to schizophrenia and implicates MIR137, a regulatory RNA that plays a role in neuron development, in the disorder.
In families that have more than one child with autism, the middle children, particularly those born second, have a higher risk of developing autism than other children in the family, according to a study published 19 October in PLoS One. In families that have only one child with autism, however, risk of the disorder rises with each additional birth, the study found.