Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41174051›Full record

ArticleMolecular psychiatry2026

Autism-associated ARHGEF9 variants impair GABAergic synapses and ultrasonic communication by reducing gephyrin phosphorylation.

Hyeji Jung, Byeongchan Kim, Gyubin Jang, Hyojung Lee, Younghye Kim, Hyeonho Kim, Hea Ji Lee, Dongwook Kim, Yeji Yang, Woo Chan Jeong and 10 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Molecular psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing 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

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. GABAFrontiers in pharmacology · 2026
    Review
  3. Article
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

20 authors.

Hyeji JungDepartment of Brain Sciences, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), 333 Techno Jungangdae-Ro, Hyeonpoong-Eup, Dalseong-Gun, Daegu, 42988, Korea.
Byeongchan KimDepartment of Brain Sciences, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), 333 Techno Jungangdae-Ro, Hyeonpoong-Eup, Dalseong-Gun, Daegu, 42988, Korea.ORCID 0009-0007-7113-9906
Gyubin JangDepartment of Brain Sciences, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), 333 Techno Jungangdae-Ro, Hyeonpoong-Eup, Dalseong-Gun, Daegu, 42988, Korea.
Hyojung LeeDepartment of Brain Sciences, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), 333 Techno Jungangdae-Ro, Hyeonpoong-Eup, Dalseong-Gun, Daegu, 42988, Korea.
Younghye KimDepartment of Brain Sciences, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), 333 Techno Jungangdae-Ro, Hyeonpoong-Eup, Dalseong-Gun, Daegu, 42988, Korea.ORCID 0009-0003-7176-0816
Hyeonho KimDepartment of Brain Sciences, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), 333 Techno Jungangdae-Ro, Hyeonpoong-Eup, Dalseong-Gun, Daegu, 42988, Korea.
Hea Ji LeeDigital Omics Research Center, Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI), Ochang, 28119, Korea.
Dongwook KimDepartment of Brain Sciences, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), 333 Techno Jungangdae-Ro, Hyeonpoong-Eup, Dalseong-Gun, Daegu, 42988, Korea.
Yeji YangDigital Omics Research Center, Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI), Ochang, 28119, Korea.
Woo Chan JeongDepartment of Brain Sciences, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), 333 Techno Jungangdae-Ro, Hyeonpoong-Eup, Dalseong-Gun, Daegu, 42988, Korea.
Seungjoon KimDepartment of Brain Sciences, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), 333 Techno Jungangdae-Ro, Hyeonpoong-Eup, Dalseong-Gun, Daegu, 42988, Korea.ORCID 0000-0001-6298-5552
Ah-Reum HanCenter for Biomolecular and Cellular Structure, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Daejeon, 34126, Korea.ORCID 0000-0003-2090-6769
Ho Min KimDepartment of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute for Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, 34141, Korea.ORCID 0000-0003-0029-3643
Theofilos PapadopoulosDepartment of Molecular Neurobiology, Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences (City-Campus), Göttingen, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-0684-2407
Benjamin DurandService de Génétique Médicale, Hôpitaux Universitaire de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France.
Christine FrancannetService de Génétique Médicale, CHU Estaing, Clermont Ferrand, France.
Amélie PitonInstitut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), CNRS UMR 7104 - INSERM U1258 Illkirch-Graffenstaden, Illkirch-Graffenstaden, France.ORCID 0000-0003-0408-7468
Jin Young KimDigital Omics Research Center, Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI), Ochang, 28119, Korea. jinyoung@kbsi.re.kr.ORCID 0000-0002-0656-1269
Jaewon KoDepartment of Brain Sciences, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), 333 Techno Jungangdae-Ro, Hyeonpoong-Eup, Dalseong-Gun, Daegu, 42988, Korea. jaewonko@dgist.ac.kr.ORCID 0000-0001-9184-1574
Ji Won UmDepartment of Brain Sciences, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), 333 Techno Jungangdae-Ro, Hyeonpoong-Eup, Dalseong-Gun, Daegu, 42988, Korea. jiwonum@dgist.ac.kr.ORCID 0000-0002-9355-7726

Funding

National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) NRFF2022M3H9A2096186National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) RS-2022-NR067821National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) RS-2022-NR070708National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) RS-2023-NR076948National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) RS-2025-00517195
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Missense and truncating variants of the X-chromosome-linked ARHGEF9 gene encoding collybistin (Cb) cause intellectual disability and epilepsy. Here we report novel rare variants in ARHGEF9 identified via exome sequencing in male individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Functional analyses revealed that p.R290C promotes abnormal gephyrin clustering in COS-7 cells and reduces inhibitory synapse density in cultured hippocampal neurons. Electrophysiological recordings revealed that p.V374F and p.G485S, in conjunction with p.R290C, induce defective inhibitory synaptic transmission. Furthermore, only the p.G485S markedly decreased phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate-binding activity. Mice with conditional knockout (cKO) of Cb displayed altered inhibitory synaptic density and transmission in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Moreover, ultrasonic vocalization was impaired in mPFC-specific Cb-cKO mice. Strikingly, proteomic analyses showed that mPFC-specific Cb-cKO reduced gephyrin phosphorylation levels. Expression of a subset of ASD-associated ARHGEF9 variants failed to rescue impaired GABAergic synaptic transmission and reduced gephyrin phosphorylation levels in mPFC-specific Cb-cKO mice. Our data suggest that perturbation of diverse facets of Cb activity potentially triggers the onset and/or progression of ASDs via inducing altered balance in gephyrin phosphorylation.

Indexed as

Membrane ProteinsRho Guanine Nucleotide Exchange FactorsAnimalsAutism Spectrum DisorderAutistic DisorderCarrier ProteinsChlorocebus aethiopsCOS CellsGABAergic NeuronsHippocampusHumansMaleMiceMice, KnockoutNeuronsPhosphorylationARHGEF9 protein, humanArhgef9 protein, mouseCarrier ProteinsgephyrinMembrane ProteinsRho Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors

Identifiers

PMID41174051
PMCPMC12916317

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

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.