Huntington's disease, cystic fibrosis, and muscular dystrophy are each diseases that can be traced to a single mutation. Diagnosis in asymptomatic patient for these diseases is relatively easy – if you have the mutation, then you are at risk. Complex diseases, on the other hand, do not have a clear mutational footprint. A new multi-institutional study by Japanese researchers shows a potential rare gene mutation that could act as a predictor for two neurodevelopmental disorders, schizophrenia and autism. "Aberrant synapse formation is important in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and autism," says Osaka University Professor Toshihide Yamashita, one of the authors of the study. "Microglia contribute to the structure and function of synapse connectivities." Microglia are the only cells in the brain that express the receptor CX3CR1. Mutations in this receptor are known to affect synapse connectivity and cause abnormal social behavior in mice. Such mutations have also been associated with neuroinflammatory diseases such as multiple sclerosis, but no study has shown a role in neurodevelopment disorders. Working with this hypothesis, the researchers conducted a statistical analysis of the CX3CR1 gene in over 7,000 schizophrenia and autism patients and healthy subjects, finding one mutant candidate, a single amino acid switch from alanine to threonine, as a candidate marker for prediction.Login Or Register To Read Full Story