Three new threads on autism research snagged a multitude of congratulatory tweets this week. Let’s dive right in!
One 16-part thread, from Alessandro Gozzi, senior scientist at the Italian Institute of Technology in Rovereto, Italy, describes a mechanism behind autism’s sex bias, presented in a preprint his team posted on bioRxiv this month. “Here we investigated a well-known autism-risk gene called Ube3A,” he tweeted to kick the thread off.
Ub3A is an interesting gene because of its dual function.
Specifically, Ube3A is 1⃣ a ubiquitin protein ligase i.e. it controls protein degradation & recycling.
But Ube3A 2⃣ also controls gene transcription. This second role has been largely understudied…
3/n pic.twitter.com/ijE7x8TFB0
— Alessandro Gozzi (@Gozzi_Ale) November 14, 2022
“Our data suggest that Ube3a overdosage may contribute to sex-bias in neurodevelopmental conditions via influence on sex-differential mechanisms,” Gozzi concluded.
Many thanks to @HereCaterina @MarcoPagani1985 @e_deguz for leading the project @YuriBozzi @LabPasqualetti and the many twitterless coauthors for help and input. And very grateful to @SFARIorg @ERC_Research @IITalk for funding this research
16/16
— Alessandro Gozzi (@Gozzi_Ale) November 14, 2022
Thomas Nickl-Jockschat, associate professor of psychiatry at University of Iowa in Iowa City, called the results exciting and thanked Gozzi “for letting me be a part of this collaboration.”
Exciting new results! Thanks for letting me be a part of this collaboration, @Gozzi_Ale!! https://t.co/DRzN1BXMYY
— Thomas Nickl-Jockschat (@jockschat) November 23, 2022
“Great thread and fantastic work!” tweeted Veera Rajagopal, a scientist at the biotechnology company Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in Tarrytown, New York.
Great thread and fantastic work! https://t.co/MOGfTzaRv6
— Veera M. Rajagopal (@doctorveera) November 15, 2022
Another multi-part thread began with a question: “Are all synapses created equal?” asked Oscar Marín, professor of neuroscience at the Centre for Developmental Neurobiology of Kings College London in the United Kingdom.
2/8 We approached this question by investigating the wiring of PV+ and SST+ interneurons in the mouse neocortex. These cells have highly related developmental trajectories but play very different roles in adulthood, making them an attractive model for studying synapse specificity pic.twitter.com/UJfehsMxxq
— Oscar Marín (@MarinLab) November 24, 2022
“We approached this question by investigating the wiring of PV+ and SST+ interneurons in the mouse neocortex,” Marín’s tweetstorm continued, explaining his research on parvalbumin and somatostatin cells that appeared in Science on 25 November.
Marín summarized the results, tweeting, “Local protein translation is regulated at the level of specific connections to control synapse formation in the nervous system.”
7/8 In sum, local protein translation is regulated at the level of specific connections to control synapse formation in the nervous system. Funded by @IHIEurope @Aims2Trials @SFARIorg and brought to you by the amazing talent of @clembrnrd @DExpositoAlonso @MartijnSelten et al pic.twitter.com/GmhudTDZ16
— Oscar Marín (@MarinLab) November 24, 2022
Clémence Bernard, a research associate in Marín’s lab, shared an illustrated “recap of the conclusions of the paper by the multitalented @brainotopia.”
A recap of the conclusions of the paper by the multitalented @brainotopia: you need to translate to connect! pic.twitter.com/puJ13rCNKQ
— Clem Bernard (@clembrnrd) November 24, 2022
“Excitatory synapses arising from the same presynaptic neuron on sst INs and pv INs have different properties. Now we know how!!!” tweeted Jai Polepalli, assistant professor of anatomy at the National University of Singapore.
Excitatory synapses arising from the same presynaptic neuron on sst INs and pv INs have different properties. Now we know how!!! https://t.co/F6nB6j2HSg
— Jai Polepalli (@JaiPolepalli) November 24, 2022
Liset M de la Prida, director of the Laboratorio de Circuitos Neuronales at the Instituto Cajal in Madrid, Spain, wondered “whether similar mechs are at play in the dorsal CA1 hippocampus, where PV+ and SST+ interneurons connect differently with deep and superficial pyramidal cells.”
I wonder whether similar mechs are at play in the dorsal CA1 hippocampus, where PV+ and SST+ interneurons connect differently with deep and superficial pyramidal cells. Beautiful work @MarinLab @Rico_lab !! https://t.co/8GUPj1gEwT
— Liset M de la Prida (@LMPrida) November 26, 2022
Other scientists on Twitter lauded another autism-linked study, published 22 November in Cell Reports. Nadeem Murtaza, a postdoctoral researcher at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, who led the work, “used proteomics to screen 41 autism risk genes, finding convergence between the genes,” tweeted Karun Singh, associate professor of biochemistry and biomedical sciences at the university and Murtaza’s adviser.
Sharing a study led by Dr. Nadeem Murtaza @Nadeem_M13. He used proteomics to screen 41 autism risk genes, finding convergence between the genes. Congrats to co-authors, and thank you to our long-standing collaborators. @UHN_Research @LMP_UofT https://t.co/LBjxSWA67C
— Karun K Singh (@karunsinghneuro) November 22, 2022
“Very impressive paper … on protein-protein interaction networks for 41 autism linked proteins showing (among many other things!) that #mitochondria are a common feature,” tweeted Julien Courchet, a researcher at Institut NeuroMyoGene in Lyon, France.
Very impressive paper now out in @CellReports on protein-protein interaction networks for 41 autism linked proteins showing (among many other things!) that #mitochondria are a common feature. Congrats to the authors https://t.co/JV1gYXRUr6
— Julien Courchet (@JCourchet) November 23, 2022
That’s it for this week’s Community Newsletter! If you have any suggestions for interesting social posts you saw in the autism research sphere, feel free to send an email to [email protected].
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Cite this article: https://doi.org/10.53053/UXSZ5907
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