Decreased expression of mGluR5 within the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in autism and increased microglial number in mGluR5 knockout mice: Pathophysiological and neurobehavioral implications

Gursharan Chana; Liliana Laskaris; Christos Pantelis; Piers Gillett; Renee Testa; Daniela Zantomio; Emma L Burrows; Anthony J Hannan; Ian P Everall; Efstratios Skafidas

Journal article

Decreased expression of mGluR5 within the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in autism and increased microglial number in mGluR5 knockout mice: Pathophysiological and neurobehavioral implications

Gursharan Chana, Liliana Laskaris, Christos Pantelis, Piers Gillett, Renee Testa, Daniela Zantomio, Emma L Burrows, Anthony J Hannan, Ian P Everall, Efstratios Skafidas

BRAIN BEHAVIOR AND IMMUNITY | ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE | Published : 2015

DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2015.05.009

Abstract

Metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) and microglial abnormalities have been implicated in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, controversy exists as to whether the receptor is down or upregulated in functioning in ASD. In addition, whilst activation of mGluR5 has been shown to attenuate microglial activation, its role in maintaining microglial homeostasis during development has not been investigated. We utilised published microarray data from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) of control (n=30) and ASD (n=27) individuals to carry out regression analysis to assess gene expression of mGluR5 downstream signalling elements. We then conducted a post-mortem brain stereological in..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Christos Pantelis Author Psychiatry

Stan Skafidas Author Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Piers Gillett Author Melbourne School of Population and Global Health

Gursharan Chana Author Medicine - Royal Melbourne Hospital

Related Projects (2)

RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP - PROF CHRISTOS PANTELIS

I have established and head the Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre within the University of Melbourne. My university position is a research ch..

Experience-dependent cellular and cognitive changes in models of schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a brain disorder involving psychiatric symptoms which include abnormalities of cognitive processes. We are using mouse mode..

Grants

Awarded by NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellowship

Awarded by ARC Future Fellowship (FT3)

Awarded by NHMRC Project Grant

Funding Acknowledgements

We thank the Autism Tissue Program (ATP) for permission to utilize brain tissue from individuals with ASD and controls, with written informed consent obtained through families of donors to publish data relating to these samples. Without these consented samples this research would not be possible. Personal details of patients and their families volunteering to donate brain tissue to the ATP were kept entirely anonymous to researchers with cases de-identified prior to being sent for research purposes. This work was partially supported by funds through a pilot grants scheme run by the Melbourne Neuroscience Institute (MNI). Prof Christos Pantelis was supported by a NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellowship (ID: 628386). Prof Anthony Hannan was supported by an ARC Future Fellowship (FT3; FT100100835) and NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship, and the mGluR5 work in his laboratory was funded by an NHMRC Project Grant (ID: 1034785).