Enriched expression of genes associated with autism spectrum disorders in human inhibitory neurons.

ABSTRACT: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is highly heritable but genetically heterogeneous. The affected neural circuits and cell types remain unclear and may vary at different developmental stages. By analyzing multiple sets of human single cell transcriptome profiles, we found that ASD candidates showed relatively enriched gene expression in neurons, especially in inhibitory neurons. ASD candidates were also more likely to be the hubs of the co-expression gene module that is highly expressed in inhibitory neurons, a feature not detected for excitatory neurons. In addition, we found that upregulated genes in multiple ASD cortex samples were enriched with genes highly expressed in inhibitory neurons, suggesting a potential increase of inhibitory neurons and an imbalance in the ratio between excitato

SUBMITTER: Wang P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5802446 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature