Journal Article

Functional impact of global rare copy number variation in autism spectrum disorders

Correia, Catarina, Guter, Stephen J., Schellenberg, Gerard D., Lamb, Janine A., Webber, Caleb, Cuccaro, Michael L., Bacchelli, Elena, Heron, Elizabeth A., Stein, Olaf, Parrini, Barbara, Tansey, Katherine, Wijsman, Ellen M., Wing, Kirsty, Anney, Richard, Green, Jonathan, Scherer, Stephen W., Thiruvahindrapduram, Bhooma, Kim, Cecilia, Nygren, Gudrun, Parr, Jeremy R., Wood, Shawn, Zwaigenbaum, Lonnie, Casallo, Guillermo, Duque, Frederico, Brennan, Sean, Hallmayer, Joachim, Chung, Brian H.Y., Sheffield, Val C., Sousa, Inês, Klei, Lambertus, Papanikolaou, Katerina, Rice, John P., Estes, Annette, McMahon, William M., Leboyer, Marion, Lund, Sabata C., Kustanovich, Vlad, Munson, Jeff, Buxbaum, Joseph D., Sequeira, Ana F., Tsiantis, John, Strawbridge, Christina, Weksberg, Rosanna, Betancur, Catalina, Korvatska, Olena, Monaco, Anthony P., Cytrynbaum, Cheryl, Hill, Matthew, Geschwind, Daniel H., Corsello, Christina, Noor, Abdul, Baird, Gillian, Howe, Jennifer L., Pagnamenta, Alistair T., Leventhal, Bennett L., Segurado, Ricardo, Wassink, Thomas H., Almeida, Joana, Hakonarson, Hakon, Stoppioni, Vera, Cook, Edwin H.

2010

Overview

The genetics of autism The autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are a group of conditions typically characterized by repetitive behaviour, severely restricted interests and difficulties with social interactions and communication. ASDs are highly heritable, yet the underlying genetic determinants remain largely unknown. A genome-wide analysis reveals that people with ASDs carry a higher load of rare copy-number variants — segments of DNA for which the copy number differs between individual genomes — which are either inherited or arise de novo . The results implicate several novel genes as ASD candidates and point to the importance of cellular proliferation, projection and motility as well as specific signalling pathways in this disorder. The autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs) are highly heritable, yet the underlying genetic determinants remain largely unknown. Here, a genome-wide analysis of rare copy number variants (CNVs) has been carried out, revealing that ASD sufferers carry a higher load of rare, genic CNVs than do controls. Many of these CNVs are de novo and inherited. The results implicate several novel genes in ASDs, and point to the importance of cellular proliferation, projection and motility, as well as specific signalling pathways, in these disorders. The autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are a group of conditions characterized by impairments in reciprocal social interaction and communication, and the presence of restricted and repetitive behaviours 1 . Individuals with an ASD vary greatly in cognitive development, which can range from above average to intellectual disability 2 . Although ASDs are known to be highly heritable (∼90%) 3 , the underlying genetic determinants are still largely unknown. Here we analysed the genome-wide characteristics of rare (<1% frequency) copy number variation in ASD using dense genotyping arrays. When comparing 996 ASD individuals of European ancestry to 1,287 matched controls, cases were found to carry a higher global burden of rare, genic copy number variants (CNVs) (1.19 fold, P = 0.012), especially so for loci previously implicated in either ASD and/or intellectual disability (1.69 fold, P = 3.4 × 10 -4 ). Among the CNVs there were numerous de novo and inherited events, sometimes in combination in a given family, implicating many novel ASD genes such as SHANK2, SYNGAP1 , DLGAP2 and the X-linked DDX53–PTCHD1 locus. We also discovered an enrichment of CNVs disrupting functional gene sets involved in cellular proliferation, projection and motility, and GTPase/Ras signalling. Our results reveal many new genetic and functional targets in ASD that may lead to final connected pathways.

• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group UK,Nature Publishing Group
• Subject: 631/208/2489/144 / 631/208/457/649 / 631/378/1689/1373 / Arrays / Autism / Biological and medical sciences / Case-Control Studies / Cell Movement / Child / Child clinical studies / Child Development Disorders / Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Child Development Disorders, Pervasive - genetics / Child Development Disorders, Pervasive - pathology / Child Development Disorders, Pervasive - physiopathology / Confidence intervals / Copy number variations / Cytoprotection / Developmental disorders / Disabilities / Disorders / DNA Copy Number Variations / DNA Copy Number Variations - genetics / Ethnology / Europe / Europe - ethnology / Gene Dosage / Gene Dosage - genetics / Genes / Genetic aspects / Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Genetic Predisposition to Disease - genetics / Genetics / Genome-Wide Association Study / Health aspects / Humanities and Social Sciences / Humans / Infantile autism / letter / Life Sciences / Loci / Medical sciences / multidisciplinary / Pathology / Pervasive / Pervasive developmental disorders / Physiopathology / Psychiatry / Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry / Psychopathology. Psychiatry / Psykiatri / Quality control / Reproduction / Science / Science (multidisciplinary) / Signal Transduction / Social Behavior