Cited by 1,039Autism Spectrum Disorder ResearchGenetics and Neurodevelopmental DisordersBioinformatics and Genomic Networks

Integrative functional genomic analyses implicate specific molecular pathways and circuits in autism

Open access
Parikshak, Neelroop N., Luo, Rui, Zhang, Alice, Won, Hyejung, Lowe, Jennifer K., Chandran, Vijayendran, Horvath, Steve, Geschwind, Daniel H.·2013·Cell

Abstract

Genetic studies have identified dozens of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) susceptibility genes, raising two critical questions: 1) do these genetic loci converge on specific biological processes, and 2) where does the phenotypic specificity of ASD arise, given its genetic overlap with intellectual disability (ID)? To address this, we mapped ASD and ID risk genes onto co-expression networks representing developmental trajectories and transcriptional profiles representing fetal and adult cortical laminae. ASD genes tightly coalesce in modules that implicate distinct biological functions during human cortical development, including early transcriptional regulation and synaptic development. Bioinformatic analyses suggest translational regulation by FMRP and transcriptional co-regulation by common transcription factors connect these processes. At a circuit level, ASD genes are enriched in superficial cortical layers and glutamatergic projection neurons. Furthermore, we show that the patterns of ASD and ID risk genes are distinct, providing a novel biological framework for investigating the pathophysiology of ASD.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.cell.2013.10.031

Cites

85 of 85 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Several studies have supported a nexus in mid-fetal, glutamatergic neurons during cortical development, with modestly divergent findings regarding deep versus superficial cortical layers.

    “several studies have supported a nexus in mid-fetal, glutamatergic neurons during cortical development, with modestly divergent findings regarding deep 56 versus”

    From Autism spectrum disorder (2020) · cites this paper as [54]

    The Discussion (page unavailable) reports convergence with parallel work on fetal cortical development and describes stronger enrichment in superficial-layer glutamatergic neurons, alongside a weaker lower-layer signal. But the paper locates its clearest cell-type and layer enrichment in adult cortex; it does not establish the claimed nexus specifically in mid-fetal glutamatergic neurons. (LLM, conf=0.83)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • ASD genes are expressed at high levels in the human cortex and early in development.

    “Thus, in keeping with prior analyses (Chang et al., 2015; Parikshak et al., 2013; Willsey et al., 2013; Xuet al., 2014), ASD genes are expressed at high levels in the human cortex and early in development.”

    From Large-Scale Exome Sequencing Study Implicates Both Developmental and Functional Changes in the Neurobiology of Autism (2020) · cites this paper as Parikshak et al., 2013

    The Results section on RDNVs in early fetal development reports high cortical expression during early neurodevelopment for a subset of ASD-associated genes (113 of 598 RDNV-affected genes). The paper also distinguishes these early-expression modules from ASD-associated synaptic modules with later developmental patterns, so it does not establish the claim for ASD genes generally. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Prior analyses have implicated excitatory glutamatergic neurons in the cortex and medium spiny neurons in the striatum in ASD.

    “Prior analyses have implicated excitatory glutamatergic neurons in the cortex and medium spiny neurons in the striatum in ASD (Chang et al., 2015; Parikshak et al., 2013; Willsey et al., 2013; Xu et al., 2014).”

    From Large-Scale Exome Sequencing Study Implicates Both Developmental and Functional Changes in the Neurobiology of Autism (2020) · cites this paper as Parikshak et al., 2013

    The Discussion (page unavailable) links ASD risk-enriched gene modules to glutamatergic neurons in upper cortical layers, supporting the cortical part of the claim. The paper passages do not implicate medium spiny neurons in the striatum; searches for those terms found no supporting passage. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • ASD risk gene coexpression networks are enriched in upper-layer neurons during development and these neurons are preferentially affected in ASD patients.

    “This aligns with the observation that ASD risk gene coexpression networks are enriched in upper-layer neurons during development and that these neurons are preferentially affected in ASD patients6,34.”

    From Single-cell brain organoid screening identifies developmental defects in autism (2023) · cites this paper as [6]

    The Results (page unavailable) link ASD-risk coexpression modules to upper-layer neuron markers and report that genes recurrently mutated in ASD probands tend to be expressed in superficial layers. The Discussion (page unavailable) treats disruption of upper-layer neurons as a prediction, not a direct observation that those neurons are preferentially affected in patients; it also says the strongest layer enrichment was found in adult tissue. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Coexpression network analyses of autism spectrum disorder genes indicate that developmental defects associated with autism spectrum disorder may arise during fetal stages.

    “Moreover, coexpression network analyses of ASD genes indicate that the developmental defects associated with ASD may arise during fetal stages5,6, periods that are difficult to investigate.”

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Parikshak, N. N., Luo, R., Zhang, A., Won, H., Lowe, J. K., Chandran, V., Horvath, S., & Geschwind, D. H.
Affiliations
University of California, Los Angeles (US)
Corresponding author
Geschwind, Daniel H.
Venue
Cell
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2013-11
Volume
155
Issue
5
Pages
1008-1021
ISSN
0092-8674 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2071598557
Cited by
1,039
References
85
Citations by year
2026: 55 · 2025: 64 · 2024: 59 · 2023: 72 · 2022: 73 · 2021: 90 · 2020: 122 · 2019: 104 · 2018: 90 · 2017: 85 · 2016: 82 · 2015: 81 · 2014: 59 · 2013: 2
FWCI
40.22
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cell (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (5r01mh094714-04)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (5R01MH094714, R01-MH094714, F30MH099886, R01MH100027, R01MH060233, T32MH073526, R37MH060233, RC2MH089921)
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (P30NS062691)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Bioinformatics and Genomic Networks
Keywords
autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, ASD risk genes, co-expression network, cortical development, cortical layers, transcriptional regulation, synaptic development, FMRP, translational regulation, transcription factors, glutamatergic projection neurons, superficial cortical layers
MeSH terms
Brain, Cerebral Cortex, Child Development Disorders, Pervasive, Gene Expression Regulation, Humans, Neurons, Transcription, Genetic, Gene Regulatory Networks, Genome-Wide Association Study

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review