Systems-level multi-omics dissection of syndromic and idiopathic autism reveals distinct regulatory architectures, candidate molecular signatures, and potential therapeutic targets
Abstract
Biological systems operate as self-organizing information networks in which genetic, epigenetic, and regulatory interactions collectively determine functional outcomes. Autism encompasses a heterogeneous set of neurodevelopmental conditions, including syndromic and idiopathic subtypes. Despite extensive gene discovery efforts, how these autism subtypes differ in their underlying organization of biological information remains poorly understood. Here, we apply an integrative systems-level, multi-omics framework to compare syndromic and idiopathic autism as distinct regulatory systems. High-confidence autism risk genes were curated from the SFARI and AutismKB databases, and analyzed using functional enrichment, protein-protein interaction network modeling, graph-theoretic hub identification, brain-region, cell-type-specific transcriptomic validation, experimentally supported miRNA regulatory network reconstruction, and deep learning-based drugtarget interaction analysis. Our analyses reveal clear differences in network organization between autism subtypes. Idiopathic autism is predominantly associated with synaptic signaling, ion channel activity, and transcriptional modulation, with hub genes KAT2B and AR enriched in basal ganglia-associated regions and astrocytes. In contrast, syndromic autism shows enrichment for transcriptional regulation, chromatin remodeling, and dense miRNA-mediated control, with hub genes CHD3 and CSNK2A1 preferentially expressed in cerebellar and cortic…
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Accumulating molecular evidence suggests that clinically defined subgroups may exhibit partially distinct patterns of genetic liability and molecular perturbation.
“Although the syndromic versus non-syndromic distinction originated as an operational clinical classification rather than a strict biological dichotomy, accumulating molecular evidence suggests that these clinically defined subgroups may exhibit partially distinct patterns of genetic liability and molecular perturbation (Rudhra and Singh, 2026).”
From Biological hierarchy from genotype to phenotype in syndromic and non-syndromic autism spectrum disorder (2026) · cites this paper as Rudhra and Singh, 2026
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Qing, Z., Yin, Z., Chen, B., Rao, Z., Yin, D., Li, D., Lu, Y., Shi, M., Li, S., Xu, Y., et al. (2026) · Frontiers in Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnins.2026.1964684
“…originated as an operational clinical classification rather than a strict biological dichotomy, accumulating molecular evidence suggests that these clinically defined subgroups may exhibit partially distinct patterns of genetic liability and molecular perturbation (Rudhra and Singh, 2026).”
- Authors
- Rudhra, O., & Singh, S. K.
- Affiliations
- Alagappa University (IN)
- Corresponding author
- Singh, Sanjeev Kumar
- ORCID
- Rudhra, Ondippili
- Venue
- Computers in Biology and Medicine
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2026-08
- Volume
- 213
- Pages
- 111822
- ISSN
- 0010-4825 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W7165522373
- Cited by
- 1
- References
- 67
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1
- FWCI
- 4.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Computers in Biology and Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, India (DST/WOS-A/LS-434/2021)
- 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
- syndromic autism, idiopathic autism, autism heterogeneity, gene regulatory networks, miRNA regulatory network, hub genes, KAT2B, AR, CHD3, CSNK2A1, post-transcriptional regulation, synaptic signaling, ion channel activity, chromatin remodeling, therapeutic target discovery, drug-target interaction prediction, cell type-specific transcriptomics, protein-protein interaction network
- MeSH terms
- Multiomics, Autistic Disorder, Humans, MicroRNAs, Gene Regulatory Networks, Transcriptome, Protein Interaction Maps
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