Molecular mechanisms: Autism gene regulates neuron shape TAOK2,
a gene in the autism-associated 16p11.2 chromosomal region, is
part of a signaling pathway that builds neuronal connections
during development, according to a study published 10 June in
Nature Neuroscience1. A study published this month shows that
individuals with autism who express less TAOK2 in blood cells
tend to have larger heads than those with more of the protein.
Levels of the TAOK2 protein are regulated by FMRP, the protein
lacking in fragile X syndrome, according to a study published
last summer2, further linking the protein to autism. Better
understanding of the effects of abnormal TAOK2 levels could
clarify its role in the wide-ranging symptoms linked to 16p11.2
deletion and duplication, as well as autism more broadly. In the
new study, researchers found that cells with lower-than-typical
levels of TAOK2 have fewer axons, the long neuronal projections
that ferry signals to other cells, than do controls. They also
have fewer dendrites,