Nerve cells from people with autism grow unusually big and fast

[Judi Lynn]

Abnormal growth patterns might set the brain on a course to develop the disorder
BY LAURA SANDERS 6:00AM, JANUARY 11, 2019



SWIFT AND SURE Nerve cells from people with autism that were grown in lab dishes grew larger and developed more quickly than nerve cells from people without the disorder (one shown).

SALK INSTITUTE

Young nerve cells derived from people with autism are precocious, growing bigger and developing sooner than cells taken from people without autism, a new study shows.

The results, described January 7 in Nature Neuroscience, hint that in some cases nerve cells veer off course early in brain development to ultimately cause the disorder.

As a proxy of brain growth, researchers led by Simon Schafer of the Salk Institute in La Jolla, Calif., transformed skin cells from people with and without autism into stem cells that then developed into nerve cells in the lab. Along the way, the scientists monitored the cells’ growth and the behavior of their genes.

Compared with cells derived from five people without autism, cells from eight people with autism grew bigger, with longer and more elaborate branches, the researchers found. Three-dimensional balls called organoids made of the autism-derived cells were bulkier, too. In addition to this physical development, a group of genes important for brain development switched on sooner.

More:
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/nerve-cells-people-autism-grow-unusually-big-and-fast?tgt=nr

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