Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39079538›Full record

ArticleAmerican journal of human genetics2024

Cell-type-specific effects of autism-associated 15q duplication syndrome in the human brain.

Caroline Dias, Alisa Mo, Chunhui Cai, Liang Sun, Kristen Cabral, Catherine A Brownstein, Shira Rockowitz, Christopher A Walsh

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in American journal of human genetics, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

8 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Transcriptomic Convergence in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Synaptic, Immune-Glial and RNA-Regulatory Axes in the Human Cerebral Cortex.International journal of developmental neuroscience : the official journal of the International Society for Developmental Neuroscience · 2026
    Review
  2. Microglia as critical mediators linking perinatal immune stress to mental health trajectories.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. scDown: A Pipeline for Single-Cell RNA-Seq Downstream Analysis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Article
  8. Unraveling the Roles of UBE3A in Neurodevelopment and Neurodegeneration.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Caroline DiasDivision of Developmental Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Division of Genetics and Genomics, Manton Center for Orphan Disease Research, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: caroline.dias@childrenscolorado.org.
Alisa MoDepartment of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Chunhui CaiResearch Computing, Department of Information Technology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Liang SunResearch Computing, Department of Information Technology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Kristen CabralDivision of Genetics and Genomics, Manton Center for Orphan Disease Research, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Catherine A BrownsteinDivision of Genetics and Genomics, Manton Center for Orphan Disease Research, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Shira RockowitzDivision of Genetics and Genomics, Manton Center for Orphan Disease Research, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Research Computing, Department of Information Technology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Christopher A WalshDivision of Genetics and Genomics, Manton Center for Orphan Disease Research, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: christopher.walsh@childrens.harvard.edu.

Funding

HUMAN EPILEPSY GENETICS--NEURONAL MIGRATION DISORDERSR01NS035129 · NINDS · BOSTON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL · PI WALSH, CHRISTOPHER A. · 1997 to 2023
$9.5M
Genetic Analysis and Manipulation Core (GAEC)P50HD105351 · NICHD · BOSTON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL · PI SCOTT Loren POMEROY, MUSTAFA SAHIN · 2021 to 2026
$9.4M
1/2-Somatic mosaicism and autism spectrum disorderU01MH106883 · NIMH · BOSTON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL · PI PARK, PETER J, WALSH, CHRISTOPHER A. · 2015 to 2019
$9.2M
Mouse Neurodevelopmental Behavior CoreU54HD090255 · NICHD · BOSTON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL · PI SAHIN, MUSTAFA · 2016 to 2020
$5.2M
Translational Post-doctoral Training in NeurodevelopmentT32MH112510 · NIMH · BOSTON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL · PI DAVID C GLAHN, CHARLES Alexander NELSON · 2017 to 2026
$2.6M
NICHD NIH HHS P50 HD105351NICHD NIH HHS U54 HD090255NIMH NIH HHS T32 MH112510NIMH NIH HHS U01 MH106883NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS035129
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Recurrent copy-number variation represents one of the most well-established genetic drivers in neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder. Duplication of 15q11-q13 (dup15q) is a well-described neurodevelopmental syndrome that increases the risk of autism more than 40-fold. However, the effects of this duplication on gene expression and chromatin accessibility in specific cell types in the human brain remain unknown. To identify the cell-type-specific transcriptional and epigenetic effects of dup15q in the human frontal cortex, we conducted single-nucleus RNA sequencing and multi-omic sequencing on dup15q-affected individuals (n = 6) as well as individuals with non-dup15q autism (n = 7) and neurotypical control individuals (n = 7). Cell-type-specific differential expression analysis identified significantly regulated genes, critical biological pathways, and differentially accessible genomic regions. Although there was overall increased gene expression across the duplicated genomic region, cellular identity represented an important factor mediating gene-expression changes. As compared to other cell types, neuronal subtypes showed greater upregulation of gene expression across a critical region within the duplication. Genes that fell within the duplicated region and had high baseline expression in control individuals showed only modest changes in dup15q, regardless of cell type. Of note, dup15q and autism had largely distinct signatures of chromatin accessibility but shared the majority of transcriptional regulatory motifs, suggesting convergent biological pathways. However, the transcriptional binding-factor motifs implicated in each condition implicated distinct biological mechanisms: neuronal JUN and FOS networks in autism vs. an inflammatory transcriptional network in dup15q microglia. This work provides a cell-type-specific analysis of how dup15q changes gene expression and chromatin accessibility in the human brain, and it finds evidence of marked cell-type-specific effects of this genetic driver. These findings have implications for guiding therapeutic development in dup15q syndrome, as well as understanding the functional effects of copy-number variants more broadly in neurodevelopmental disorders.

Indexed as

Autistic DisorderBrainChromosomes, Human, Pair 15DNA Copy Number VariationsAutism Spectrum DisorderChildChromatinChromosome AberrationsChromosome DuplicationFemaleHumansIntellectual DisabilityMaleNeuronsTrisomyChromatinATAC-seqautismcopy-number variantdup15qneurodevelopmentsnRNA-seq

Identifiers

PMID39079538
PMCPMC11339625

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Registered trials

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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.