Single-cell analysis of dup15q syndrome reveals developmental and postnatal molecular changes in autism.

Publication date: Jul 04, 2025

Duplication 15q (dup15q) syndrome is a leading genetic cause of autism spectrum disorder, offering a key model for studying autism-related mechanisms. Using single-cell and single-nucleus RNA sequencing of cortical organoids from dup15q patient-derived iPSCs and post-mortem brain samples, we identify increased glycolysis, disrupted layer-specific marker expression, and aberrant morphology in deep-layer neurons during fetal-stage organoid development. In adolescent-adult postmortem brains, upper-layer neurons exhibit heightened transcriptional burden related to synaptic signaling, a pattern shared with idiopathic autism. Using spatial transcriptomics, we confirm these cell-type-specific disruptions in brain tissue. By gene co-expression network analysis, we reveal disease-associated modules that are well preserved between postmortem and organoid samples, suggesting metabolic dysregulation that may lead to altered neuron projection, synaptic dysfunction, and neuron hyperexcitability in dup15q syndrome.

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Concepts Keywords
Autism Adolescent
Dup15q Adult
Postnatal Autism Spectrum Disorder
Stage Autistic Disorder
Transcriptomics Brain
Chromosome Aberrations
Chromosome Disorders
Chromosome Duplication
Chromosomes, Human, Pair 15
Female
Gene Expression Profiling
Gene Regulatory Networks
Glycolysis
Humans
Intellectual Disability
Male
Neurons
Organoids
Single-Cell Analysis
Transcriptome

Semantics

Type Source Name
disease MESH syndrome
disease MESH autism
disease MESH Duplication 15q
disease MESH autism spectrum disorder
pathway REACTOME Glycolysis
drug DRUGBANK Trestolone
drug DRUGBANK Sucrose
drug DRUGBANK Flunarizine
drug DRUGBANK Pentaerythritol tetranitrate
drug DRUGBANK Aspartame
drug DRUGBANK Coenzyme M
pathway REACTOME Axon guidance
drug DRUGBANK Dextrose unspecified form
pathway REACTOME Metabolism
disease MESH intellectual disability
disease MESH epilepsy
drug DRUGBANK Glycine
disease MESH anomalies
drug DRUGBANK Proline
disease MESH Chromosome Aberrations
disease MESH Chromosome Disorders
disease MESH Chromosome Duplication

Original Article

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