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Updated: Jun 21, 2025

A Scalable, Cell-Based Method for the Functional Assessment of Ube3a Variants
Published on: October 10, 2022
Sex-biasing influence of autism-associated Ube3a gene overdosage at connectomic, behavioral, and transcriptomic
Caterina Montani1, Luigi Balasco2, Marco Pagani1,3,4
1Functional Neuroimaging Laboratory, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Center for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems, CNCS@UNITN, Rovereto, Italy.
Abstract:
Genomic mechanisms enhancing risk in males may contribute to sex bias in autism. The ubiquitin protein ligase E3A gene (Ube3a) affects cellular homeostasis via control of protein turnover and by acting as transcriptional coactivator with steroid hormone receptors. Overdosage of Ube3a via duplication or triplication of chromosomal region 15q11-13 causes 1 to 2% of autistic cases. Here, we test the hypothesis that increased dosage of Ube3a may influence autism-relevant phenotypes in a sex-biased manner. We show that mice with extra copies of Ube3a exhibit sex-biasing effects on brain connectomics and autism-relevant behaviors. These effects are associated with transcriptional dysregulation of autism-associated genes, as well as genes differentially expressed in 15q duplication and in autistic people. Increased Ube3a dosage also affects expression of genes on the X chromosome, genes influenced by sex steroid hormone, and genes sex-differentially regulated by transcription factors. These results suggest that Ube3a overdosage can contribute to sex bias in neurodevelopmental conditions via influence on sex-differential mechanisms.
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