ABOVE: Neural progenitor cells derived from individuals with autism spectrum disorder (right) exhibit increased DNA damage (indicated as red dots on DNA labeled in blue) compared to those derived from typical individuals (left).
SALK INSTITUTE
Researchers have shown previously that excessive proliferation of the cells of the brain, which can cause macrocephaly, or large head size, is associated with autism. Now, the authors of a study published in Cell Stem Cell last week (January 30) have connected that overgrowth with replication stress, subsequent DNA damage, and dysfunction in neural progenitor cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells from patients with autism spectrum disorder.
“It is striking,” Bjoern Schwer, a molecular biologist at the University of California, San Francisco, who studies DNA repair and genomic stability in neural cells and did not participate in the study, writes in an email to The Scientist. “These are fascinating findings with many implications for autism ...
