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Library Categories > Research > Clues To Autism Found In Sticky Blood Protein

 
Library Item Name:

Clues To Autism Found In Sticky Blood Protein 		   
Summary Statement:

Many children with autism have elevated blood levels of serotonin - a chemical with strong links to mood and anxiety. But what relevance this "hyperserotonemia" has for autism has remained a mystery.

New research by Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators provides a physical basis for this phenomenon, which may have profound implications for the origin of some autism-associated deficits.

In an advance online publication in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Ana Carneiro, Ph.D., and colleagues report that a well-known protein found in blood platelets, integrin beta3, physically associates with and regulates the serotonin transporter (SERT), a protein that controls serotonin availability.

Autism, a prevalent childhood disorder, involves deficits in language, social communication and prominent rigid-compulsive traits. Serotonin has long been suspected to play a role in autism since elevated blood serotonin and genetic variations in the SERT have been linked to autism.
Submission Date:

03/12/2008by: shannonj
Current rating:


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