The DOI matches its Crossref record; 56 of the 56 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Reduced MeCP2 Expression is Frequent in Autism Frontal Cortex and Correlates with Aberrant MECP2 Promoter Methylation
Open accessAbstract
Mutations in MECP2, encoding methyl CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2), cause most cases of Rett syndrome (RTT), an X-linked neurodevelopmental disorder. Both RTT and autism are "pervasive developmental disorders" and share a loss of social, cognitive and language skills and a gain in repetitive stereotyped behavior, following apparently normal perinatal development. Although MECP2 coding mutations are a rare cause of autism, MeCP2 expression defects were previously found in autism brain. To further study the role of MeCP2 in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), we determined the frequency of MeCP2 expression defects in brain samples from autism and other ASDs. We also tested the hypotheses that MECP2 promoter mutations or aberrant promoter methylation correlate with reduced expression in cases of idiopathic autism. MeCP2 immunofluorescence in autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders was quantified by laser scanning cytometry and compared with control postmortem cerebral cortex samples on a large tissue microarray. A significant reduction in MeCP2 expression compared to age-matched controls was found in 11/14 autism (79%), 9/9 RTT (100%), 4/4 Angelman syndrome (100%), 3/4 Prader-Willi syndrome (75%), 3/5 Down syndrome (60%), and 2/2 attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (100%) frontal cortex samples. One autism female was heterozygous for a rare MECP2 promoter variant that correlated with reduced MeCP2 expression. A more frequent occurrence was significantly increased MECP2 promoter methylation in autism male frontal cortex compared to controls. Furthermore, percent promoter methylation of MECP2 significantly correlated with reduced MeCP2 protein expression. These results suggest that both genetic and epigenetic defects lead to reduced MeCP2 expression and may be important in the complex etiology of autism.
Overview
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.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
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.
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?
The source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“In ASD, global methylation differences are observed in neuronal development genes”
From The clinical use of epigenetics in psychiatry: a narrative review of epigenetic mechanisms, key candidate genes, and precision psychiatry (2025) · cites this paper as [18]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“In MECP2, both mutations and methylation abnormalities interact to disrupt synaptic development”
From The clinical use of epigenetics in psychiatry: a narrative review of epigenetic mechanisms, key candidate genes, and precision psychiatry (2025) · cites this paper as [18]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIn the citing paper
“evidence is emerging to suggest that transcription factors lacking a MBD can also interact with methylated DNA”
From Transcription factors as readers and effectors of DNA methylation (2016) · cites this paper as [26]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Shrestha, S., & Offer, S. M. (2016) · Medical Epigenetics · doi:10.1159/000444713 · Cited by 8,951
Rett syndrome is caused by mutations in X-linked MECP2, encoding methyl-CpG-binding protein 2
Amir, R. E., Van den Veyver, I. B., Wan, M., Tran, C. Q., Francke, U., & Zoghbi, H. Y. (1999) · Nature Genetics · doi:10.1038/13810 · Cited by 4,990
Epigenetic differences arise during the lifetime of monozygotic twins
Fraga, M. F., Ballestar, E., Paz, M. F., Ropero, S., Setien, F., Ballestar, M. L., Heine-Suñer, D., Cigudosa, J. C., Urioste, M., Benitez, J., et al. (2005) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0500398102 · Cited by 3,602
MethPrimer: designing primers for methylation PCRs
Li, L.-C., & Dahiya, R. (2002) · Bioinformatics · doi:10.1093/bioinformatics/18.11.1427 · Cited by 2,741
Epigenetic Transgenerational Actions of Endocrine Disruptors and Male Fertility
Anway, M. D., Cupp, A. S., Uzumcu, M., & Skinner, M. K. (2005) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1108190 · Cited by 2,563
Autism as a strongly genetic disorder: evidence from a British twin study
Bailey, A., Le Couteur, A., Gottesman, I., Bolton, P., Simonoff, E., Yuzda, E., & Rutter, M. (1995) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291700028099 · Cited by 2,461
Transposable elements: targets for early nutritional effects on epigenetic gene regulation
Waterland, R. A., & Jirtle, R. L. (2003) · Molecular and Cellular Biology · doi:10.1128/mcb.23.15.5293-5300.2003 · Cited by 2,019 · cited 1×
“For example, dietary methyl supplementation can affect gene expression via DNA methylation (42).”
BackgroundEpigenetic therapy of cancer: past, present and future
Yoo, C. B., & Jones, P. A. (2006) · Nature Reviews Drug Discovery · doi:10.1038/nrd1930 · Cited by 1,307
Derepression of BDNF Transcription Involves Calcium-Dependent Phosphorylation of MeCP2
Chen, W. G., Chang, Q., Lin, Y., Meissner, A., West, A. E., Griffith, E. C., Jaenisch, R., & Greenberg, M. E. (2003) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1086446 · Cited by 1,232
Esch, H. V., Bauters, M., Ignatius, J., Jansen, M., Raynaud, M., Hollanders, K., Lugtenberg, D., Bienvenu, T., Jensen, L. R., Gécz, J., et al. (2005) · The American Journal of Human Genetics · doi:10.1086/444549 · Cited by 647
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Kosaki K, McGinniss MJ, Veraksa AN, McGinnis WJ, Jones KL. Prader-Willi and Angelman syndromes: diagnosis with a bisulfite-treated methylation-specific PCR method. Am J Med Genet 1997; 73:308-13.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Transcription factors as readers and effectors of DNA methylation
Zhu, H., Wang, G., & Qian, J. (2016) · Nature Reviews Genetics · doi:10.1038/nrg.2016.83 · Cited by 649
Genomic and epigenetic evidence for oxytocin receptor deficiency in autism
Gregory, S. G., Connelly, J. J., Towers, A. J., Johnson, J., Biscocho, D., Markunas, C. A., Lintas, C., Abramson, R. K., Wright, H. H., Ellis, P., et al. (2009) · BMC Medicine · doi:10.1186/1741-7015-7-62 · Cited by 576
Genetic Causes and Modifiers of Autism Spectrum Disorder
Rylaarsdam, L. E., & Guemez‐Gamboa, A. (2019) · Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fncel.2019.00385 · Cited by 618
Maunakea, A. K., Chepelev, I., Cui, K., & Zhao, K. (2013) · Cell Research · doi:10.1038/cr.2013.110 · Cited by 552
Methyl-cpG-binding domain proteins: readers of the epigenome
Du, Q., Luu, P.-L., Stirzaker, C., & Clark, S. J. (2015) · Epigenomics · doi:10.2217/epi.15.39 · Cited by 544
Metadata
- Authors
- Nagarajan, R., Hogart, A., Gwye, Y., Martin, M. R., & LaSalle, J. M.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Davis (US)
- Venue
- Epigenetics
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2006-10-23
- Volume
- 1
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 172-182
- ISSN
- 1559-2294 (ISSN-L)
- 1559-2308
- PMC
- PMC1866172
- OpenAlex
- W2149522457
- Cited by
- 347
- References
- 56
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 34 · 2014: 23 · 2013: 28 · 2012: 16
- FWCI
- 7.33
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Epigenetics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Miami
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Mental Health (R24MH068855)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD048799)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Epigenetics and DNA Methylation
- Keywords
- MeCP2, autism spectrum disorder, Rett syndrome, promoter mutations, frontal cortex, Angelman syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, Down syndrome, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, epigenetic defects, neurodevelopmental disorders, pervasive developmental disorders
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Amino Acid Sequence, Autistic Disorder, Child, Child, Preschool, Female, Frontal Lobe, Humans, Infant, Male, Middle Aged, Promoter Regions, Genetic, DNA Methylation, Tissue Array Analysis, Methyl-CpG-Binding Protein 2
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
