Autism and increased paternal age related changes in global levels of gene expression regulation.

ABSTRACT: A causal role of mutations in multiple general transcription factors in neurodevelopmental disorders including autism suggested that alterations in global levels of gene expression regulation might also relate to disease risk in sporadic cases of autism. This premise can be tested by evaluating for changes in the overall distribution of gene expression levels. For instance, in mice, variability in hippocampal-dependent behaviors was associated with variability in the pattern of the overall distribution of gene expression levels, as assessed by variance in the distribution of gene expression levels in the hippocampus. We hypothesized that a similar change in variance might be found in children with autism. Gene expression microarrays covering greater than 47,000 unique RNA transcripts were

SUBMITTER: Alter MD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3040743 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature