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PMID: 21509596 Published · ppublish English Journal Article

A new synaptic player leading to autism risk: Met receptor tyrosine kinase.

Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders ·Vol. 3 ·No. 3 ·2011-09-00 ·Pages 282-92

Judson MC, Eagleson KL, Levitt P

Abstract

The validity for assigning disorder risk to an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) candidate gene comes from convergent genetic, clinical, and developmental neurobiology data. Here, we review these lines of evidence from multiple human genetic studies, and non-human primate and mouse experiments that support the conclusion that the MET receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) functions to influence synapse development in circuits relevant to certain core behavioral domains of ASD. There is association of both common functional alleles and rare copy number variants that impact levels of MET expression in the human cortex. The timing of Met expression is linked to axon terminal outgrowth and synaptogenesis in the developing rodent and primate forebrain, and both in vitro and in vivo studies implicate this RTK in dendritic branching, spine maturation, and excitatory connectivity in the neocortex. This impact can occur in a cell-nonautonomous fashion, emphasizing the unique role that Met plays in specific circuits relevant to ASD.

Authors & Affiliations
3 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Judson Matthew C
Department of Cell and Molecular Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Eagleson Kathie L
Levitt Pat
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Article Info
Journal
Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders
Abbr.
J Neurodev Disord
ISSN
1866-1955
DOI
10.1007/s11689-011-9081-8
Published
2011-09-00
Epub
2011-00-21
Pages
282-92
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
101483832
PMCID
PMC3261279
Grants
NIMH NIH HHS · R01 MH067842 · United States
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1007/s11689-011-9081-8 PMC Full Text View journal details
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