From Genotype to Phenotype in Autism: The Role of Adaptive Physiology in Flies and Mice

The identification of rare de novo mutations that confer high risk for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has generated tremendous new molecular insight and progress. Yet, in cases where a known mutation confers risk, additional processes contribute to the phenotypic severity of ASD. A concept called homeostatic plasticity has garnered considerable attention as an adaptive process that might be relevant and contribute to the spectrum of ASD in the human population. But virtually nothing is known at a mechanistic level regarding the interface of homeostatic plasticity and ASD genetics. Furthermore, there remains ongoing debate whether homeostatic plasticity is normally induced or whether it is impaired by gene mutations that confer risk for ASD.

In this lecture, Graeme Davis will describe a novel, unexpected genetic architecture that connects mutations in ASD-associated genes with the mechanisms of homeostatic plasticity in both invertebrate and mammalian nervous systems. In particular, Davis will present a novel means by which a diversity of ASD-associated risk genes may converge to disrupt homeostatic plasticity, thereby compromising the robustness of synaptic transmission. This information may be relevant to new therapeutic approaches that might someday alleviate the phenotypic severity of ASD, regardless of the underlying genetic mutation(s) that confer risk for ASD.