Scientists Discover Molecular Network Underlying Autism

"The study of autism disorders is extremely challenging due to the large number of clinical mutations that occur in hundreds of different human genes associated with autism," said Michael Snyder, lead author of the new study, in a news release. "We therefore wanted to see what extent shared molecular pathways are perturbed by the diverse set of mutations linked to autism in the hope of distilling tractable information that would benefit future studies."

In this case, the researchers generated their interactome, which is the whole set of interactions within a cell. In order to do so, they used the BioGrid database of protein and genetic interactions. This data allowed them to identify the protein interaction module with members strongly enriched for known autism genes.

"The module we identified which is enriched in autism genes had two distinct components," said Snyder. "One of these components was expressed throughout different regions of the brain. The second component had enhanced molecular expression in the corpus callosum. Both components of the network interacted extensively with each other."

The researchers believe that disruptions in parts of the corpus callosum interfere with the circuitry that connects the two hemispheres of the brain. This can give rise to the different phenotypes of autism that result due to impairment of signaling between two halves of the brain.

The findings reveal a bit more about what may be the cause of autism. This, in turn, may head to better treatments and provides a framework to uncover more.

The findings are published in the journal Molecular Systems Biology.

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