| abstract |
The present invention discloses the identification of a human autism susceptibility gene, which can be used for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of autism and related disorders, as well as for the screening of therapeutically active drugs. The invention more specifically discloses that the PRKCB1 gene of chromosome 16 and certain alleles thereof are related to susceptibility to autism and represent novel targets for therapeutic intervention. The present invention relates to particular mutations in the PRKCB1 gene and expression products, as well as to diagnostic tools and kits based on these mutations. The invention can be used in the diagnosis of predisposition to, detection, prevention and/or treatment of Asperse syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder, childhood disintegrate disorder, mental retardation, anxiety, depression, attention deficit hyperactive disorders, speech delay or language impairment, epilepsy, metabolic disorder, immune disorder, bipolar disease and other psychiatric and neurological disease. |