We investigated several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of Forkhead Box P2 (FOXP2) and Protein-Tyrosine Phosphatase, Receptor-type, Zeta-1 (PTPRZ1) at the 7q region in Japanese patients with autism and healthy controls.
Especially useful would be an algorithm for predicting the impact of nonsynonymous single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the gene for PTEN, a protein that is implicated in most human cancers and connected to germline disorders that include autism.
We review the scanty literature data on the association of Cowden syndrome and autism and emphasize that the association of progressive macrocephaly and pervasive developmental disorder seems to be an indication for screening for PTEN mutations.
Conformational Dynamics and Allosteric Regulation Landscapes of Germline PTEN Mutations Associated with Autism Compared to Those Associated with Cancer.
A novel mutation in the PTEN gene was identified in a 16-year-old girl with autism, mental retardation, language delay, extreme macrocephaly (+4.7SD) with a prominent forehead, and digital minor anomalies.
Screening of PTEN mutations is warranted in patients with autism and pronounced macrocephaly, even in the absence of other features of PTEN-related tumor syndromes.
PHTS patients with destabilizing PTEN mutations and proteasome hyperactivity are more susceptible to develop neurologic symptoms such as mental retardation and autism than mutation-positive patients with normal proteasome activity.
In addition, emerging data suggest that PTEN mutation can synergize with mutations in other autism susceptibility genes to contribute to the development of autistic behaviors.
Of these 18 autistic subjects (13 males and five females; ages 3.1-18.4 years) with a head circumference range from 2.5 to 8.0 standard deviations above the mean, three males (17%) carried germline PTEN mutations.
Our results lend insight into distinctive structural effects of germline PTEN mutations associated with PTEN-ASD vs. those associated with PTEN-cancer, potentially aiding in identification of the shared and separate molecular features that contribute to autism or cancer, thus, providing a deeper understanding of genotype-phenotype relationships for germline PTEN mutations.
Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) gene mutations and autism: literature review and a case report of a patient with Cowden syndrome, autistic disorder, and epilepsy.
Screening of PTEN mutations is warranted in patients with autism and pronounced macrocephaly, even in the absence of other features of PTEN-related tumor syndromes.