Genetic variation and complex rearrangements in Autism Spectrum Disorders: implications for genetic counseling

The etiology of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) remains unknown for most of the cases, in spite of its strong genetic component. A greater knowledge of its genetic basis would result in many benefits, including specific genetic counseling for families and, eventually, the development of personalized...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Codina i Solà, Marta
Tipo de recurso: tesis doctoral
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2016
País:España
Institución:CBUC, CESCA
Repositorio:TDR. Tesis Doctorales en Red
OAI Identifier:oai:www.tdx.cat:10803/388031
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10803/388031
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Trastorns de l'Espectre Autista (TEA)
Seqüenciació d'exoma
Transcriptoma
Assessorament genètic
Variants genètiques
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
Exome Sequencing
Transcriptome
Genetic Counseling
Genetic variants
616.89
Descripción
Sumario:The etiology of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) remains unknown for most of the cases, in spite of its strong genetic component. A greater knowledge of its genetic basis would result in many benefits, including specific genetic counseling for families and, eventually, the development of personalized therapeutic strategies. In this thesis, we have applied several recent sequencing technologies and adapted pipelines to its study. We have investigated the role of rare variants and its transcriptional consequences and explored the contribution of complex rearrangements to its missing heritability. In addition, we have studied second-hit susceptibility genetic factors in a group of individuals with Williams-Beuren syndrome, a genomic disorder associated with a mirror phenotype. Finally, we have explored parental knowledge and the effect of genetic counseling in affected families. Our results reveal that both highly penetrant mutations and inherited variants of milder effect contribute to its susceptibility, following monogenic and oligogenic or multifactorial models, respectively. Each of them may contribute to part of the variability and may explain a subset of cases.