Year: 2019
Type: review
Abstract: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex group of multi-factorial intellectual disabilities that arise from the interaction of genetic and non-genetic risk factors. Genetic alterations have been identified in around 20% of ASD patients and the use of genetic models, such as Drosophila melanogaster, has been of paramount importance to decipher the significance of these alterations. In fact, many of the ASD associated genes, such as FMR1, Neurexin, Neuroligins and SHANK encode for proteins that have a conserved function in neurons and during synapsis development, both in humans and in the fruit fly. Drosophila is a prominent model in neuroscience due to the conserved genetic networks that control neurodevelopmental processes and to the easiness of its genetics. In the present review, we will describe recent advances in the field of autism coming from the functional characterization of ASD associated genes in the fruit fly.
Source: Frontiers in Physiology
Authors: Paola Bellosta, Alessia Soldano
Institutions: University of Trento, NYU Langone Health
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,950
Awards: G3358709650, G434337789, Study of the role of m6A RNA methylation in the nervous system of Drosophila melanogaster: an in-vivo model to dissect the impact of epitranscriptome reprogramming in physiology and cancer, Elucidating how the Glutamate-Glutamine cycle, in glial or neuronal cells, controls neuronal degeneration
OpenAlex ID: W2964196201