Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28322282›Full record

ArticleMolecular psychiatry2018

Maternal immune activation dysregulation of the fetal brain transcriptome and relevance to the pathophysiology of autism spectrum disorder.

M V Lombardo, H M Moon, J Su, T D Palmer, E Courchesne, T Pramparo

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Molecular psychiatry, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 115 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
115citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
9.8field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

115 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 194 citations in OpenAlex.

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  18. Protein-Altering Variants' Analysis in Autism Subgroups Uncovers Early Brain-Expressed Gene Modules Relevant to Autism Pathophysiology.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2025
    Article
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55 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

M V LombardoCenter for Applied Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus.
H M MoonDepartment of Neurosurgery, Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
J SuDepartment of Neurosurgery, Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
T D PalmerDepartment of Neurosurgery, Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
E CourchesneDepartment of Neuroscience, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA.
T PramparoDepartment of Neuroscience, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA.
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine · USUniversity of California, San Diego · USUniversity of Cyprus · CY

Funding

UC San Diego Clinical and Translational Research InstituteUL1TR001442 · NCATS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI FIRESTEIN, GARY S, HOGARTH, MICHAEL · 2015 to 2024
$88.3M
UC San Diego Clinical and Translational Research InstituteKL2TR001444 · NCATS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI DEPP, COLIN A. · 2015 to 2024
$15.4M
Developmental Functional Genomics in ASD ToddlersR01MH110558 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI COURCHESNE, ERIC, LEWIS, NATHAN ENOCH · 2016 to 2020
$3.0M
GABRB3 and Placental Vulnerability in ASDR01MH096815 · NIMH · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI PALMER, THEO D · 2012 to 2016
$2.9M
Convergence of genetic and gestational immune mechanisms in CHD8-related ASDR01MH108659 · NIMH · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI PALMER, THEO D · 2016 to 2020
$2.8M
San Diego Clinical and Translational Research InstituteKL2TR000099 · NCATS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI FIRESTEIN, GARY S · 2012 to 2014
$1.1M
NCATS NIH HHS KL2 TR000099NCATS NIH HHS KL2 TR001444NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR001442NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH096815NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH108659NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH110558
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Maternal immune activation (MIA) via infection during pregnancy is known to increase risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, it is unclear how MIA disrupts fetal brain gene expression in ways that may explain this increased risk. Here we examine how MIA dysregulates rat fetal brain gene expression (at a time point analogous to the end of the first trimester of human gestation) in ways relevant to ASD-associated pathophysiology. MIA downregulates expression of ASD-associated genes, with the largest enrichments in genes known to harbor rare highly penetrant mutations. MIA also downregulates expression of many genes also known to be persistently downregulated in the ASD cortex later in life and which are canonically known for roles in affecting prenatally late developmental processes at the synapse. Transcriptional and translational programs that are downstream targets of highly ASD-penetrant FMR1 and CHD8 genes are also heavily affected by MIA. MIA strongly upregulates expression of a large number of genes involved in translation initiation, cell cycle, DNA damage and proteolysis processes that affect multiple key neural developmental functions. Upregulation of translation initiation is common to and preserved in gene network structure with the ASD cortical transcriptome throughout life and has downstream impact on cell cycle processes. The cap-dependent translation initiation gene, EIF4E, is one of the most MIA-dysregulated of all ASD-associated genes and targeted network analyses demonstrate prominent MIA-induced transcriptional dysregulation of mTOR and EIF4E-dependent signaling. This dysregulation of translation initiation via alteration of the Tsc2-mTor-Eif4e axis was further validated across MIA rodent models. MIA may confer increased risk for ASD by dysregulating key aspects of fetal brain gene expression that are highly relevant to pathophysiology affecting ASD.

Indexed as

AnimalsAutism Spectrum DisorderBrainDisease Models, AnimalEukaryotic Initiation Factor-4EFemaleFragile X Messenger Ribonucleoprotein 1Gene Regulatory NetworksHumansMaternal-Fetal ExchangeNuclear ProteinsPregnancyPrenatal Exposure Delayed EffectsProteomicsRatsRisk FactorsChd8 protein, ratEukaryotic Initiation Factor-4EFmr1 protein, ratFragile X Messenger Ribonucleoprotein 1Nuclear Proteins

Identifiers

PMID28322282
PMCPMC5608645
OpenAlexW2952743173

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.