Neural Stem Biology and Autistic Spectrum Disorder

The lab helped to identify the autism-associated gene, PTEN pathway as a key regulator of neural stem cell growth (Groszer et al., Science). In studies led by Dr. Le Belle, the lab has since gone on to study how the environment influences this pathway to promote neural stem cell proliferation and the development of autism like behaviors (Le Belle et al., Cell Stem Cell and Stem Cell Reports). In ongoing studies we are seeking methods to treat these defects in mature animals.