Genome-wide identification of transcriptional targets of RORA reveals direct regulation of multiple genes associated with autism spectrum disorder

Table 6 Quantitative RT-PCR analysis of post-mortem brain tissues from individuals with autism

Sample comparison (A vs. C)	Age (A, C)	RORA			CYP19A1			ITPR1			A2BP1
Sample comparison (A vs. C)	Age (A, C)	Control	Autistic	A/C	Control	Autistic	A/C	Control	Autistic	A/C	Control	Autistic	A/C
5144A vs. 5251C	20, 19	6.4	2.0	0.316	1.7E-04	5.2E-05	0.307	127.7	70.8	0.554	553.1	105.3	0.190
5173A vs. 5873C	30, 28	38.4	25.4	0.661	1.2E-02	5.9E-03	0.487	246.4	27.3	0.111	830.1	74.2	0.089
6337A vs. 5718C	22, 22	7.9	0.4	0.046	7.7E-06	1.0E-07	0.013	217.4	176.3	0.811	246.0	64.6	0.263
Average ratio (A/C)		17.6	9.3	0.527	4.1E-03	2.0E-03	0.484	197.2	91.5	0.464	543.1	81.4	0.150
P value (unpaired t test)				0.562			0.660			0.137			0.052
		HSD17B10			NLGN1			NTRK2
		Control	Autistic	A/C	Control	Autistic	A/C	Control	Autistic	A/C
5144A vs. 5251C	20, 19	128.7	15.7	0.122	178.3	23.8	0.133	3218.9	544.6	0.169
5173A vs. 5873C	30, 28	126.3	41.1	0.325	255.3	44.9	0.176	2600.1	1077.2	0.414
6337A vs. 5718C	22, 22	47.6	39.2	0.824	84.8	61.5	0.725	929.8	1265.1	1.361
Average ratio (A/C)		100.9	32.0	0.317	172.8	43.4	0.251	2249.6	962.3	0.428
P value (unpaired t test)				0.069			0.062			0.147

Gene expression in brain tissues from individuals with autism (indicated by ’A’) was compared with that in controls (indicated by ’C’). The numbers preceding ‘A’ or ‘C’ identify specific individuals whose brains were donated to the Autism Tissue Program (San Diego, CA, USA). Total RNA was isolated and purified from frozen post-mortem prefrontal cortex tissues from individuals with autism (n = 3) and the controls (n = 3). Quantitative RT-PCR analyses (in triplicate) were performed to measure expression of RORA and that of six transcriptional targets. The transcript levels of each gene were calculated using standard curves obtained from relative 18S expression in 10-fold serial dilutions of each sample. The numbers highlighted in bold-face type indicate down-regulation of gene expression in autism brain tissues relative to that in respective matched controls. The P values are from unpaired t tests of the expression data from the combined cases versus that of the combined controls.

ISSN: 2040-2392