Study finds first-ever genetic animal model of autism

“Prior to this study we knew next to nothing about the mechanisms of autism in the brain,” says study researcher Craig M. Powell, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of neurology and psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. “With this research, we can study changes in the brain that lead to autistic behaviors and symptoms, which may help us understand more about progression and treatment of the disorder.”

The research team, led by Thomas Südhof, M.D., professor and chairman of neuroscience at UT Southwestern, replaced the normal mouse neurologin-3 gene with a mutated neuroligin-3 gene associated with autism in humans. By doing so, the team was able to create a gene in the mice that is similar to the human autism disease gene. While the result amounted to a very small change in their genetic makeup, it perfectly mimicked the same small change occurring in some patients with human autism.

Dr. Powell studied the genetically altered mice and found that, when examined in behavioral tests that may reflect key signs of autism, they showed decreased social interaction with other mice; other traits, such as anxiety, coordination and pain sensitivity, were unaffected. These social interaction deficits, Dr. Powell says, are hallmark features of human autism. In addition, the mice showed enhanced spatial learning abilities, which may resemble the enhanced cognitive abilities in autistic savants (people who have a severe developmental or mental handicap as well as extraordinary mental abilities).

“These findings could be especially helpful in identifying novel treatment approaches. We already know that inhibitory chemical synaptic transmission from one neuron to the next is increased in this mouse model. Now we can test drugs that decrease this effect directly in the mice and ask whether this reverses their social interaction deficits,” Dr. Powell says. “For now, the mainstay of autism treatment is still behavioral therapy. The earlier we can get patients involved with behavioral interventions, the better off people with autism will be.” Dr. Powell adds that the model gives researchers insight into mouse brains which share important parallels with brains of living humans, which can only be studied in limited ways with the use of new brain imaging tools.

ACNP, founded in 1961, is a professional organization of more than 700 leading scientists, including four Nobel Laureates. The mission of ACNP is to further research and education in neuropsychopharmacology and related fields in the following ways: promoting the interaction of a broad range of scientific disciplines of brain and behavior in order to advance the understanding of prevention and treatment of disease of the nervous system including psychiatric, neurological, behavioral and addictive disorders; encouraging scientists to enter research careers in fields related to these disorders and their treatment; and ensuring the dissemination of relevant scientific advances.