Y Chromosome Regulation of Autism Susceptibility Genes
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a group of pervasive neurodevelopmental disorders with impairments in social interaction, language and range of interests. There is a significant sexual dimorphism with affected boy to girl ratios as high as 8:1. Recent studies in our laboratory demonstrated that the Y-located transcription factor, SRY, could possibly play a genetic modifier role in the expression of several significant autism susceptibility genes (ASGs). The major goal of the project is to confirm that SRY indeed can possibly influence the expression of these autism susceptibility genes, by demonstrating its binding to the promoters, influencing the expression of ASGs, and exploring additional potential neuronal targets for SRY in neuronal cell cultures. Various molecular techniques will be used for these studies, whose results should provide critical insights on the roles of SRY and the Y chromosome genes in dysregulation of ASGs, and their contributions to the etiologies of ASD, thereby explaining the sexual dimorphism in male susceptibility to the disease.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA510416
Entities
People
- Chris L. Yun-fai
Organizations
- Northern California Institute for Research and Education