Autism is a condition that affects how a person thinks, learns, and interacts with others. It usually appears early in childhood and can continue throughout a person’s life.
Around 1 in every 59 children is diagnosed with autism, and boys are about four times more likely to be diagnosed than girls.
Children with autism may find it hard to talk with others or understand social situations, and they may behave in ways that seem unusual or repetitive.
Although scientists have been studying autism for many years, they still don’t fully understand what causes it. But step by step, they are learning more. Recently, a group of researchers from Northwestern University in the United States found an important clue.
They discovered a possible reason why the brains of children with autism might develop differently. This clue lies in our genes, which are the instructions inside every cell of our body.
The scientists studied a gene that makes a protein called ankyrin-G. Proteins like ankyrin-G help brain cells grow and connect with each other. In a healthy brain, brain cells need to build many connections so they can “talk” to each other.
These connections are called synapses. If there are too few synapses, brain cells can’t communicate well, which might cause learning difficulties and other challenges seen in autism.
Earlier studies had already suggested that the gene ANK3, which makes ankyrin-G, might be involved in several brain conditions. These include autism, intellectual disabilities, and even some mental health disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. But scientists didn’t know exactly how this gene might lead to autism.
This new research showed something interesting: ankyrin-G helps grow tiny structures on brain cells called dendritic spines. These spines are like small branches that connect one brain cell to another.
When the spines grow properly, the brain can build many strong synapses. But for ankyrin-G to work well, it needs help from another protein called Usp9X.
Usp9X acts like a helper that keeps ankyrin-G stable and working the right way. If Usp9X doesn’t do its job, the level of ankyrin-G goes down. This is a big problem, especially in the early days after a baby is born—this is a very important time for brain development.
To study this, the researchers did tests on mice. They found that when the mice had low levels of ankyrin-G, their brains developed fewer synapses. These mice later had problems with learning and behavior that continued into adulthood. The scientists think the same might happen in humans if this gene does not work properly.
The findings suggest that changes in the Usp9X gene could be one of the reasons some children develop autism. These changes affect how brain cells build connections, which can lead to trouble with communication and learning.
The lead researcher, Peter Penzes, and his team hope their study will help scientists better understand autism and maybe even find ways to diagnose it earlier or create new treatments in the future. Their work was published in a scientific journal called Neuron.
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