Developmental dynamics of the cortical cellular and molecular landscapes in autism spectrum disorder models

Network analysis indicated that molecular convergence is strong across models within each developmental stage, suggesting that diverse ASD mutations impinge on common, stage-specific processes. Convergence becomes less pronounced by postnatal day 14, highlighting the dynamic nature of ASD-associated changes. Cross-genotype heterogeneity is superimposed on stage-specific effects.

Electrophysiology corroborated this pattern: mutants generally showed altered neuronal excitability and synaptic properties with model-specific nuances. Our study also highlighted sex-specific gene expression alterations, with females often displaying larger effect sizes than males. Altogether, our findings provide a comprehensive view of the developmental cellular and molecular dynamics across ASD models.