TY - JOUR T1 - Co-expression Profiling of Autism Genes in the Mouse Brain A1 - Menashe, Idan A1 - Grange, Pascal A1 - Larsen, Eric C. A1 - Banerjee-Basu, Sharmila A1 - Mitra, Partha P. Y1 - 2013/07/25 N2 - Author Summary Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental condition associated with many different genes. However, the neuroanatomical and functional properties of these genes in the brain are largely unknown. Here we examined the co-expression network of 26 genes associated with ASD, using data from the Allen Mouse Brain Atlas, which provides a whole-genome, high-resolution map of gene expression pattern in the adult mouse brain. We discovered that autism genes are significantly more co-expressed than expected by chance, suggesting common neuro-functional properties. We then examined the spatial properties of co-expression modules that are highly enriched with autism genes. Consequently, we found that genes in two of these modules are significantly over-expressed in the cerebellar cortex, and particularly in sections that are predominantly populated by granular cells. These findings provide the essential link between gene networks associated with ASD and specific brain regions, and hence lay out a basis for further exploration of the particular neuronal circuits involved in ASD etiology. JF - PLOS Computational Biology JA - PLOS Computational Biology VL - 9 IS - 7 UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003128 SP - e1003128 EP - PB - Public Library of Science M3 - doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003128 ER -