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Review
. 2008 Aug;1(4):240-50.
doi: 10.1002/aur.33.

Feasibility and relevance of examining lymphoblastoid cell lines to study role of microRNAs in autism

Zohreh Talebizadeh  1 , Merlin G Butler, Mariana F Theodoro
Affiliations
Review

Feasibility and relevance of examining lymphoblastoid cell lines to study role of microRNAs in autism

Zohreh Talebizadeh et al. Autism Res. 2008 Aug.

Erratum in

  • Autism Res. 2008 Oct;1(5):307

Abstract

To assess the feasibility and relevance of using lymphoblastoid cell lines to study the role of noncoding RNAs in the etiology of autism, we evaluated global expression profiling of 470 mature human microRNAs from six subjects with autism compared with six matched controls. Differential expression (either higher or lower) for 9 of the 470 microRNAs was observed in our autism samples compared with controls. Potential target genes for these microRNAs were identified using computer tools, which included several autism susceptibility genes. Our preliminary results indicate microRNAs should be considered and evaluated in the etiology of autism. In addition, analysis of this class of noncoding RNAs in lymphoblastoid cells has the potential to reveal at least a subset of brain-related microRNAs implicated in autism. Subsequently, this model system should allow for detection of complex subtle changes in susceptibility genes/pathways contributing to autism.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cy3/Cy5 ratio image of microRNA microarray expression. Representative microRNAs differentially expressed in 3 autism compared with 3 control females are marked with color code (red: up regulation and green: down regulation). Tissue source: lymphoblastoid cell lines. Pair sets: #1 = 6 yr old autism/6 yr old control; #2 = 11 yr old autism/12 yr old control; and #3 = 13 yr old autism/13 yr old control.
Figure 2
Figure 2
microRNA cluster on human chromosome Xq26. A) Six microRNAs from the miR-106a-miR-363 cluster (i.e., miR-106a, miR-18b, miR-20b, miR-19b-2, miR-92-2, and miR-363) and the number of base pair intervals with their subsequent microRNA are shown. B) Genomic distances are indicated for several genes of interest for autism in close vicinity of the Xq26 microRNA cluster.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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