Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0004352 (autism)
 32,579 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The Ras family GTPases (Ras, Rap1, and Rap2) and their downstream mitogen-activated protein kinases (ERK, JNK, and p38MAPK) and PI3K signaling cascades control various physiological processes. In neuronal cells, recent studies have shown that these parallel cascades signal distinct forms of AMPA-sensitive glutamate receptor trafficking during experience-dependent synaptic plasticity and adaptive behavior. Interestingly, both hypo- and hyperactivation of Ras/ Rap signaling impair the capacity of synaptic plasticity, underscoring the importance of a "happy-medium" dynamic regulation of the signaling. Moreover, accumulating reports have linked various genetic defects that either up- or down-regulate Ras/Rap signaling with several mental disorders associated with learning disability (e.g., Alzheimer's disease, Angelman syndrome, autism, cardio-facio-cutaneous syndrome, Coffin-Lowry syndrome, Costello syndrome, Cowden and Bannayan-Riley-Ruvalcaba syndromes, fragile X syndrome, neurofibromatosis type 1, Noonan syndrome, schizophrenia, tuberous sclerosis, and X-linked mental retardation), highlighting the necessity of happy-medium dynamic regulation of Ras/Rap signaling in learning behavior. Thus, the recent advances in understanding of neuronal Ras/Rap signaling provide a useful guide for developing novel treatments for mental diseases.
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PMID:Ras and Rap signaling in synaptic plasticity and mental disorders. 2043 Oct 46

Genetic disorders arising from copy number variations in the ERK (extracellular signal-regulated kinase) MAP (mitogen-activated protein) kinases or mutations in their upstream regulators that result in neuro-cardio-facial-cutaneous syndromes are associated with developmental abnormalities, cognitive deficits, and autism. We developed murine models of these disorders by deleting the ERKs at the beginning of neurogenesis and report disrupted cortical progenitor generation and proliferation, which leads to altered cytoarchitecture of the postnatal brain in a gene-dose-dependent manner. We show that these changes are due to ERK-dependent dysregulation of cyclin D1 and p27(Kip1), resulting in cell cycle elongation, favoring neurogenic over self-renewing divisions. The precocious neurogenesis causes premature progenitor pool depletion, altering the number and distribution of pyramidal neurons. Importantly, loss of ERK2 alters the intrinsic excitability of cortical neurons and contributes to perturbations in global network activity. These changes are associated with elevated anxiety and impaired working and hippocampal-dependent memory in these mice. This study provides a novel mechanistic insight into the basis of cortical malformation which may provide a potential link to cognitive deficits in individuals with altered ERK activity.
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PMID:Disrupted ERK signaling during cortical development leads to abnormal progenitor proliferation, neuronal and network excitability and behavior, modeling human neuro-cardio-facial-cutaneous and related syndromes. 2272 6

Glycerol-based ether lipids including ether phospholipids form a specialized branch of lipids that in mammals require peroxisomes for their biosynthesis. They are major components of biological membranes and one particular subgroup, the plasmalogens, is widely regarded as a cellular antioxidant. Their vast potential to influence signal transduction pathways is less well known. Here, we summarize the literature showing associations with essential signaling cascades for a wide variety of ether lipids, including platelet-activating factor, alkylglycerols, ether-linked lysophosphatidic acid and plasmalogen-derived polyunsaturated fatty acids. The available experimental evidence demonstrates links to several common players like protein kinase C, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors or mitogen-activated protein kinases. Furthermore, ether lipid levels have repeatedly been connected to some of the most abundant neurological diseases, particularly Alzheimer's disease and more recently also neurodevelopmental disorders like autism. Thus, we critically discuss the potential role of these compounds in the etiology and pathophysiology of these diseases with an emphasis on signaling processes. Finally, we review the emerging interest in plasmalogens as treatment target in neurological diseases, assessing available data and highlighting future perspectives. Although many aspects of ether lipid involvement in cellular signaling identified in vitro still have to be confirmed in vivo, the compiled data show many intriguing properties and contributions of these lipids to health and disease that will trigger further research.
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PMID:Plasmalogens, platelet-activating factor and beyond - Ether lipids in signaling and neurodegeneration. 3286 63