32 Several general findings are worth noting (see ref 33 for a more detailed summary). First, there are increased rates of de novo CNVs in ASDs, particularly in simplex families, reaffirming what was clear from medical conditions associated with ASDs, ie, that de novo changes

are significant factors in ASD. Second, there appear to be increases in the numbers of de novo CNVs in the syndromal Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical cases. Third, Z-VAD-FMK concentration amongst inherited CNVs, there were individuals (parents or sibs) with the CNV without an apparent diagnosis, consistent with variable expressivity of many known genetic disorders. There were even families where a likely causal CNV was found in Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical one affected child but not in another, suggesting independent etiologies. Finally, there were some CNVs that were recurrent (see below) but there were some CNVs that appeared likely to be etiologically significant but that were identified

Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical only once. Algorithms are being developed by molecular cytogeneticists to weight such nonrecurrent CNVs to estimate the likelihood that they are etiologically relevant, considering such factors as size of the CNV, whether it is a deletion or duplication, de novo or inherited origin, gene content, and overlap with known genetic disorders. CNTN4 Disruption of CNTN4, coding for the CAM’ contactin 4 which is involved in the Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical formation, maintenance, and plasticity of neuronal networks, has been shown to be a likely cause for cognitive aspects of 3p deletion syndrome, which presents with developmental delay.34-36 Recently, deletions in cases with Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical idiopathic ASDs indentified CNVs at the CNTN4 locus in two unrelated individuals.37 NRXN1 The first large, genome-wide SNP microarray

study (using earlier generation arrays and hence just 10 000 SNPs) was conducted in over 1000 and ASDs families by the Autism Genome Project (AGP) Consortium.27 With stringent filtering, a total of 254 CNVs were identified as being most relevant to ASD. The AGP identified two female sibs with ASD harboring identical de novo deletions at 2pl6, over a portion of the neurexin 1 (NRXN1) gene. Additional groups have since confirmed a role for NRXN1 deletions in ASD.31,38-41 Neurexins function in the vertebrate nervous system as CAMs with critical roles in synaptogenetis and bind to neuroligins, which represent another family of ASD genes (see below). 16p11 CNVs Another interesting CNV in ASD is in the 16pll region, which occurs in up to 1% of subjects with ASDs.