Expression assay of calcium signaling related lncRNAs in autism

Calcium signaling has essential roles in the neurodevelopmental processes and pathophysiology of related disorders for instance autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

We compared expression of SLC1A1, SLC25A12, RYR2 and ATP2B2, as well as related long non-coding RNAs, namely LINC01231, lnc-SLC25A12, lnc-MTR-1 and LINC00606 in the peripheral blood of patients with ASD with healthy children. Expression of SLC1A1 was lower in ASD samples compared with control samples (Expression ratio (95% CI) 0.24 (0.08–0.77), adjusted P value = 0.01). Contrary, expression of LINC01231 was higher in cases compared with control samples (Expression ratio (95% CI) 25.52 (4.19–154), adjusted P value = 0.0006) and in male cases compared with healthy males (Expression ratio (95% CI) 28.24 (1.91–418), adjusted P value = 0.0009). RYR2 was significantly over-expressed in ASD children compared with control samples (Expression ratio (95% CI) 4.5 (1.16–17.4), adjusted P value = 0.029). Then, we depicted ROC curves for SLC1A1, LINC01231, RYR2 and lnc-SLC25A12 transcripts showing diagnostic power of 0.68, 0.75, 0.67 and 0.59, respectively.

To sum up, the current study displays possible role of calcium related genes and lncRNAs in the development of ASD.