Cited by 1,421Autism Spectrum Disorder ResearchGenomic variations and chromosomal abnormalitiesGenetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Autism genome-wide copy number variation reveals ubiquitin and neuronal genes

Open access
Glessner, Joseph T., Wang, Kai, Cai, Guiqing, Korvatska, Olena, Kim, Cecilia E., Wood, Shawn, Zhang, Haitao, Estes, Annette +51 more·2009·Nature

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are childhood neurodevelopmental disorders with complex genetic origins. Previous studies focusing on candidate genes or genomic regions have identified several copy number variations (CNVs) that are associated with an increased risk of ASDs. Here we present the results from a whole-genome CNV study on a cohort of 859 ASD cases and 1,409 healthy children of European ancestry who were genotyped with approximately 550,000 single nucleotide polymorphism markers, in an attempt to comprehensively identify CNVs conferring susceptibility to ASDs. Positive findings were evaluated in an independent cohort of 1,336 ASD cases and 1,110 controls of European ancestry. Besides previously reported ASD candidate genes, such as NRXN1 (ref. 10) and CNTN4 (refs 11, 12), several new susceptibility genes encoding neuronal cell-adhesion molecules, including NLGN1 and ASTN2, were enriched with CNVs in ASD cases compared to controls (P = 9.5 x 10(-3)). Furthermore, CNVs within or surrounding genes involved in the ubiquitin pathways, including UBE3A, PARK2, RFWD2 and FBXO40, were affected by CNVs not observed in controls (P = 3.3 x 10(-3)). We also identified duplications 55 kilobases upstream of complementary DNA AK123120 (P = 3.6 x 10(-6)). Although these variants may be individually rare, they target genes involved in neuronal cell-adhesion or ubiquitin degradation, indicating that these two important gene networks expressed within the central nervous system may contribute to the genetic susceptibility 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 · 10.1038/nature07953

Cites

32 of 32 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?

  • Module 2 is rather homogeneous in terms of protein function, whereas M1 comprises diverse functional categories, including genes involved in the ubiquitin pathway and in cancer.

    “Whereas module 2 is rather homogeneous in terms of protein function, M1 comprises diverse functional categories, including genes involved in the ubiquitin pathway and in cancer (see below), in line with previous observations57, 58.”

    From Distinct selective forces and Neanderthal introgression shaped genetic diversity at genes involved in neurodevelopmental disorders (2017) · cites this paper as [57]

    The paper’s Abstract identifies ubiquitin-pathway genes among its autism-associated CNV findings, supporting that part of the cited comparison. It does not describe M1 or M2 or establish the claim about cancer-related genes; those module descriptions are the citing authors’ own analysis. No page number is available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.83)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • The neurexin-1 (nrxn1) gene has been linked directly to ASD and SCZ.

    “Of these, the neurexin-1 (nrxn1) gene has been linked directly to ASD and SCZ (Kim et al. 2008; Rujescu et al. 2009, Glessner et al. 2009; Ching et al. 2010; Gauthier et al. 2011).”

    From Neurexin1α knockout in rats causes aberrant social behaviour: relevance for autism and schizophrenia (2025) · cites this paper as Glessner et al. 2009

    The paper reports in its main text (indexed under Abstract; page unavailable) that NRXN1 deletions replicate an association with ASD in its cohorts. It does not link NRXN1 to schizophrenia; the schizophrenia association mentioned there concerns ASTN2 deletions. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Genes previously implicated in ASD by rare variant findings have pointed to functional themes in ASD pathophysiology.

    “Genes previously implicated in ASD by rare variant findings have pointed to functional themes in ASD pathophysiology 6,28 .”
  • Deletions and/or duplications at specific loci including 1q21.1, 15q11.2-13.1, 15q13.2-13.3, 16p11.2, 17q12, and 22q11.2 show evidence for association with ASD.

    “These include deletions and/or duplications at specific loci, including: 1q21.1, 15q11.2-13.1, 15q13.2-13.3, 16p11.2, 17q12, and 22q11.2”
  • Recurrent structural variations involving NRXN1, CNTN4, NLGN1, ASTN2, PTCHD1, and DDX53 show evidence for association with ASD.

    “recurrent structural variations involving one or a small number of genes, including: Neurexin 1 (NRXN1), Contactin 4 (CNTN4), Neuroligin 1 (NLGN1), Astrotactin 2 (ASTN2), and the contiguous genes Patched Domain Containing 1 (PTCHD1) and DEAD box Protein 53 (DDX53)”

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
Glessner, J. T., Wang, K., Cai, G., Korvatska, O., Kim, C. E., Wood, S., Zhang, H., Estes, A., Brune, C. W., Bradfield, J. P., Imielinski, M., Frackelton, E. C., Reichert, J., Crawford, E. L., Munson, J., Sleiman, P. M. A., Chiavacci, R., Annaiah, K., Thomas, K., Hou, C., Glaberson, W., Flory, J., Otieno, F., Garris, M., Soorya, L., Klei, L., Piven, J., Meyer, K. J., Anagnostou, E., Sakurai, T., Game, R. M., Rudd, D. S., Zurawiecki, D., McDougle, C. J., Davis, L. K., Miller, J., Posey, D. J., Michaels, S., Kolevzon, A., Silverman, J. M., Bernier, R., Levy, S. E., Schultz, R. T., Dawson, G., Owley, T., McMahon, W. M., Wassink, T. H., Sweeney, J. A., Nurnberger, J. I., Coon, H., Sutcliffe, J. S., Minshew, N. J., Grant, S. F. A., Bucan, M., Cook, E. H., Buxbaum, J. D., Devlin, B., Schellenberg, G. D., & Hakonarson, H.
Affiliations
  • Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (US)
  • Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (US)
  • University of Washington (US)
  • University of Pittsburgh (US)
  • University of Illinois Chicago (US)
  • Vanderbilt University (US)
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
  • University of Iowa (US)
  • Indiana University Indianapolis (US)
  • University of Utah (US)
  • University of Pennsylvania (US)
Corresponding author
  • Schellenberg, Gerard D.
  • Hakonarson, Hakon
Venue
Nature
Published
2009-04-28
Volume
459
Issue
7246
Pages
569-573
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W2073062083
Cited by
1,421
References
32
Citations by year
2026: 27 · 2025: 35 · 2024: 36 · 2023: 45 · 2022: 53 · 2021: 43 · 2020: 118 · 2019: 67 · 2018: 56 · 2017: 70 · 2016: 74 · 2015: 91 · 2014: 125 · 2013: 128 · 2012: 137
FWCI
72.23
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion, public-domain)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • IUScholarWorks (Indiana University) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Autism Speaks
  • U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
  • Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (UL1-RR-024134)
  • Vanderbilt University
  • University of Pennsylvania
  • University of Washington
  • University of Pittsburgh
  • Health Research Board
  • Cotswold Foundation
  • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
  • Medical Research Council
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH061009, U24MH081810, MH0666730, U54MH066673, MH69359, U10MH66766-02S1, R01MH069359, U10MH066766, MH 64547, R01MH057881, MH061009, R01MH064547)
  • National Institute of General Medical Sciences (T32GM008629)
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NS049261, R01NS049261)
  • National Center for Research Resources (UL1-RR024134-03, UL1RR024134, M01RR000064)
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P50HD055751, P50HD055782, P01HD035476, HD35476, HD055782-01, HD055751, U19HD035476)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genomic variations and chromosomal abnormalities
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Keywords
autism spectrum disorder, copy number variation, genetic susceptibility, neuronal cell adhesion molecule, cadherins, ubiquitin pathway, neuroligin-1, ASTN2, UBE3A, PARK2, single nucleotide polymorphisms, neurodevelopmental disorders, gene-environment interaction
MeSH terms
Autistic Disorder, Europe, Genotype, Humans, Neurons, Genetic Variation, Reproducibility of Results, Cohort Studies, Cell Adhesion Molecules, Neuronal, Genome, Human, Case-Control Studies, Polymerase Chain Reaction, Gene Dosage, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Ubiquitin, Gene Regulatory Networks

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