The autism-linked protein MET is expressed at lower levels in the brains of men with autism than in control brains, according to unpublished research presented Thursday at the Salk Institute, Fondation IPSEN and Nature Symposium on Biological Complexity in La Jolla, California. Women with autism do not differ from healthy controls, however.

Memantine, a drug used to treat Alzheimer’s disease, can reverse autism-like features in mice lacking one copy of the MEF2C gene, according to a poster presented last week at the Salk Institute, Fondation IPSEN and Nature Symposium on Biological Complexity in La Jolla, California.

Researchers have made neurons from the skin cells of mice that model Rett syndrome, according to a study published in the December issue Molecular Psychiatry.

Two mutations in CAPS2, an autism-linked protein that promotes neuronal signaling, lead to different autism-like behaviors in mice, according to two studies published in the past two months. Both mutations have been seen in individuals with autism. 

Families of individuals with autism may share their abnormal patterns of brain activation, according to a study published 3 December in Molecular Autism.

Fish engineered to express fluorescent proteins allow researchers to follow the paths of migrating mitochondria, the cell’s energy producers, according to a study published 14 November in The Journal of Neuroscience.

Neuroligin-2, an autism-linked protein, functions at both sides of neuronal junctions in fruit flies, according to a study published 7 November in The Journal of Neuroscience. The proteins have only been seen at the signal-receiving ends of these junctions in vertebrates.

Microglia, brain cells that are part of the immune system, are more activated in the brains of young men with autism than in controls, according to an imaging study published 26 November in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

Mitochondrial deficits may account for the range of symptoms and neurological deficits seen in autism and explain why it preferentially affects boys, says Douglas Wallace.

Researchers from three different labs have found conflicting results on social behavior using similar tests in the same strain of mutant mice. The mice all lack neuroligin-4, an autism-linked gene.