Pennsylvania [US], According to recent research, dopamine is essential for the growth of neurons. Researchers have shown that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and disrupted developmental dopamine signaling are related. Their findings open the door to future targeted treatments by highlighting the importance of research on developmental signaling pathways to understand the etiology of ASD. Their research is published in Elsevier Published by US Journal of Pathology Principal Investigators Lingyan Jing, PhD, and Gang Chen, PhD, of the Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuroregeneration and Ministry of Education, Co-Innovation Center for Tissue Engineering Technology Products Research and Evaluation. "Although dopamine is commonly recognized as a neurotransmitter, its significance in developmental aspects of autism is largely unknown," said Nantong University, the lead laboratory of the NMPA.Recent studies have highlighted the important roles of dopamine and serotonin in development and their importance in the formation of neural circuits." Additionally, studies have shown that dopamine-related medication use during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of autism in children. With these fascinating clues, we set out on a mission to bridge the gap between the known functions of dopamine and its potential effects on neurodevelopmental disorders, particularly autism. Which can bring revolutionary changes in the way of autism treatment.The investigators studied the role of disrupted dopaminergic signaling in the aetiology of ASD by integrating human brain RNA sequencing transcriptome analysis and a zebrafish model, which is recognized to have a high degree of conservation with humans. To systematically analyze developmental deficits in ASD, two large publicly available data sets, the Gene Expression Omnibus database of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and RNA sequencing data were obtained from ArchingLab. Transcriptome analysis of human brain revealed significant correlation between alterations in dopaminergic signaling pathways and neurodevelopmental signaling in patients with autism. This suggests a possible relationship between disrupted developmental dopamine signaling and autism pathology. To explore this link, researchers used the zebrafish model to study the effects of disrupted dopaminergic signaling on neural circuit development.Found that disruptions in developmental dopaminergic signaling led to neural circuit abnormalities and behavioral phenotypes reminiscent of autism and zebrafish larvae. The study also revealed a possible mechanism by which dopamine affects neuronal specification through modulation of integrins. Dr. Chen commented, "We were surprised by the extent of the impact of dopaminergic signaling on neuronal specification in zebrafish, potentially laying the groundwork for circuit disruption. Furthermore, downstream targets o dopaminergic The unexpected involvement of integrins in signaling provides new insight into the mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental disorders, Dr. Xing concluded, "This research highlights the role of dopamine in neural circuit formation during early development, particularly autism. In relation to. Understanding these mechanisms may lead to new therapeutic interventions targeting dopaminergic signaling pathways to improve outcomes for individuals with autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders.ASD is a developmental disorder that usually appears in early childhood. Although clinical outcomes vary greatly from case to case, autism is characterized by both limited interest in social interaction and repetitive behavior. This proliferation coincides with disruptions in brain connectivity shown by stress imaging. Studies have shown that multiple neurodevelopment processes can be affected in ASD, including neurogenesis, neural migration, axonal pathfinding, and synaptic formation, all of which can lead to neural circuit disruption.