Cell adhesion proteins and the pathogenesis of autism spectrum disorders.

Current theories on the pathogenesis of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) maintain that the associated cognitive and behavioral symptoms are caused by aberrant synaptic transmission affecting specific brain circuits. Transgenic mouse models have implicated the involvement of cell adhesion proteins in synaptic dysfunction and ASD pathogenesis. Recently, Aoto et al. (Cell 154: 75-88, 2013) has shown that alternatively spliced neurexin proteins affect the efficacy of AMPA receptor-mediated excitatory currents in both cultured neuronal networks and acute hippocampal slices constituting a potential ASD-related electrophysiological phenotype.