BDNF-Akt-Bcl2 antiapoptotic signaling pathway is compromised in the brain of autistic subjects.
Although the pathogenesis of autism is not understood, emerging evidence points to apoptotic mechanisms being involved in this disorder. However, it is not known whether apoptosis signaling is deregulated in the brain of autistic subjects. This study investigates how the apoptosis-related proteins are regulated in the autistic brain. Our studies show that Bcl2 is significantly decreased, whereas the expression of p53 is increased, in the brain of autistic subjects in comparison with age-matched controls. We also found that the expression and phosphorylation/activation of Akt kinase that regulates Bcl2 are significantly decreased in the autistic brain. The down-regulation of Akt may result from a decreased concentration of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), the growth factor that modulates Akt activities. These results suggest that down-regulation of the BDNF-Akt-Bcl2 antiapoptotic signaling pathway in the autistic brain could be one of the underlying mechanisms responsible for the pathogenesis of autism.
Sheikh
Ashfaq M
AM
Department of Neurochemistry, NY State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, New York, New York 10314, USA.
Malik
Mazhar
M
Wen
Guang
G
Chauhan
Abha
A
Chauhan
Ved
V
Gong
Cheng-Xin
CX
Liu
Fei
F
Brown
William T
WT
Li
Xiaohong
X
D000293:Adolescent; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015536:Down-Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D051025:bcl-Associated Death Protein / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000502:physiology
D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D051025:bcl-Associated Death Protein; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt