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Rare X-linked variants carry predominantly male risk in autism, Tourette syndrome, and ADHD
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Rare X-linked variants carry predominantly male risk in autism, Tourette syndrome, and ADHD

Sheng Wang, Belinda Wang, Vanessa Drury, Sam Drake, Nawei Sun, Hasan Alkhairo, Juan Arbelaez, Clif Duhn, Yana Bromberg, Lawrence W Brown, …
Nature communications, Vol.14(1), 8077
12/06/2023
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43776-0
PMCID: PMC10700338
PMID: 38057346
url
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43776-0View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Tourette syndrome (TS), and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) display strong male sex bias, due to a combination of genetic and biological factors, as well as selective ascertainment. While the hemizygous nature of chromosome X (Chr X) in males has long been postulated as a key point of “male vulnerability”, rare genetic variation on this chromosome has not been systematically characterized in large-scale whole exome sequencing studies of “idiopathic” ASD, TS, and ADHD. Here, we take advantage of informative recombinations in simplex ASD families to pinpoint risk-enriched regions on Chr X, within which rare maternally-inherited damaging variants carry substantial risk in males with ASD. We then apply a modified transmission disequilibrium test to 13,052 ASD probands and identify a novel high confidence ASD risk gene at exome-wide significance (MAGEC3). Finally, we observe that rare damaging variants within these risk regions carry similar effect sizes in males with TS or ADHD, further clarifying genetic mechanisms underlying male vulnerability in multiple neurodevelopmental disorders that can be exploited for systematic gene discovery.Here, the authors clarify the architecture of genetic risk on chromosome X in three male-biased psychiatric disorders. Leveraging this information they identify an exome-wide significant autism risk gene, MAGEC3, and provide a path forward for future gene discovery on this chromosome.
Autism Hyperactivity Mental Disorders Tourette Syndrome Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Chromosomes Disorders Genetic diversity Gilles de la Tourette syndrome Males Neurodevelopmental disorders Risk

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