Screening for copy number alterations in loci associated with autism spectrum disorders by two-color multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification

• Published in: American journal of medical genetics. Part B, Neuropsychiatric genetics Neuropsychiatric genetics, 2010-01, Vol.153B (1), p.280-285
• Main Authors: Bremer, Anna, Giacobini, MaiBritt, Nordenskjöld, Magnus, Brøndum-Nielsen, Karen, Mansouri, Mahmoud, Dahl, Niklas, Anderlid, BrittMarie, Schoumans, Jacqueline
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 15q11-13 duplication; autism spectrum disorders (ASD); Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child clinical studies; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive - genetics; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 15; CNV; copy number alteration (CNA); Developmental disorders; DNA Probes; Gene Dosage; Humans; Infantile autism; Medical genetics; Medical sciences; MEDICIN; MEDICINE; multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA); Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Spectral Karyotyping
• ISSN: 1552-4841; 1552-485X
• DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.b.30954

The autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a heterogenous condition characterized by impaired socialization and communication in association with stereotypic behaviors. ASD is highly heritable and heterogeneous with a complex genetic etiology. Recurrent submicroscopic deletions or duplications have been identified in a subgroup of individuals with ASD using array technology. Adequate genetic testing for these genomic imbalances have not yet been widely implemented in the diagnostic setting due to lack of feasible and cost‐effective methods as well as difficulties to interpret the clinical significance of these small copy number variants (CNVs). We developed a multiplex ligation‐dependent probe amplification (MLPA) assay to investigate its usefulness for detection of copy number alterations (CNAs) in autistic patients. This test proved to be easy to perform, fast, cost‐effective, and suitable for reliable detection of multiple loci in a single reaction. We screened 148 autistic patients for 15 different loci covering 26 genes and found a 15q11‐13 interstitial duplication that had escaped detection by conventional karyotyping in 1.3% of the patients. Synthetic probe MLPA allows for a flexible analysis of a continuously increasing number of CNAs associated with autism. Our result show that MLPA assay is an easy and cost‐effective method for the identification of selected CNAs in diagnostic laboratories. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.