Copy number variants in autism spectrum disorders

Publication date: Available online 20 February 2019Source: Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological PsychiatryAuthor(s): Vicari Stefano, Napoli Eleonora, Cordeddu Viviana, Menghini Deny, Alesi Viola, Loddo Sara, Novelli Antonio, Tartaglia MarcoAbstractIn recent years, there has been an explosive increase in genetic studies related to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This implicated the accumulation of a large amount of molecular data that may be used to verify various hypotheses and models developed to explore the complex genetic component of ASD. Several lines of evidence support the view that structural genomic variation contributes to the pathogenesis of ASD. The introduction of more sophisticated techniques for whole-genome screening, including array comparative genome hybridization and high-resolution single nucleotide polymorphism analysis, has allowed to identify an increasing number of ASD susceptibility loci. Copy number variants (CNVs) are the most common type of structural variation in the human genome and are considered important contributors to the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders, including ASD. In this review, we describe the accumulated evidence concerning the genetic events associated with ASD, and summarize current knowledge about the clinical relevance of CNVs in these disorders.

Source: Progress in Neuro Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry - February 21, 2019 Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research