Regulation of neuronal migration, an emerging topic in autism spectrum disorders

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) encompass a group of neurodevelopmental diseases that demonstrate strong heritability, however, the inheritance is not simple and many genes have been associated with these disorders. ASD is regarded as a neurodevelopmental disorder, and abnormalities at different developmental stages are part of the disease etiology. This review provides a general background on neuronal migration during brain development and discusses recent advancements in the field connecting ASD and aberrant neuronal migration. We propose that neuronal migration impairment may be an important common pathophysiology in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This review provides a general background on neuronal migration during brain development and discusses recent advancements in the field connecting ASD and aberrant neuronal migration.

Keywords: Astrotactin 2 ASTN2; Autism susceptibility candidate 2 AUTS2; Contactin-associated protein-like 2 CNTNAP2; Distal-less homeobox 1/2 DLX1/2; Neuronal migration; NudE nuclear distribution E homolog 1 NDE1.