Receptors, transcripts and proteins: In this week’s roundup, we share new autism research exploring changes in excitatory neurotransmission, altered RNA transcripts and disrupted synaptic networks. In one paper, researchers imaged metabotropic glutamate receptors in autistic people and found “pervasive lower availability across multiple brain regions.” A second study linked functional protein variants to coding mutations in the five-prime untranslated region of transcripts found in families with neurodevelopmental conditions. A third report—a preprint—showed that newly expressed SYNGAP1 restored the protein interaction network at synapses in a mouse model of autism. The Transmitter reviewed SYNGAP1 findings in novel mouse models in 2023.
More autism research we spotted:
- “Maternal rheumatoid arthritis and the risk of offspring autism spectrum disorder: Two national birth cohorts and a meta-analysis” Molecular Autism
- “AAV-mediated neuronal expression of FOXG1 restores oligodendrocyte maturation, myelination, and hippocampal structure in mouse models of FOXG1 syndrome” bioRxiv
See also: “The most personalized medicine: Studying your own child’s rare condition” - “Global prevalence and covariates of autism spectrum disorder: A meta-analysis of the past two decades (2004–2025)” medRxiv
See also: The Transmitter’s “Global Autism Prevalence Map” - “Self-injurious behaviors with increased likelihood of injury in autistic youth: The role of distress linked to a strong preference for sameness” Autism
- “A pause, not a stop: Language regression in toddlers at high familial likelihood of autism” medRxiv
- “Characterizing transdiagnostic processes underlying the drive to socially engage: A multimeasurement factor analytic investigation” Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
