Immune Gene Expression in Monocytes from Autism Spectrum Disorders

To examine how activation of different toll-like receptors (TLR) impacts gene expression in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), we cultured peripheral blood monocytes from children with ASD, Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDDNOS) or Asperger and typically developing children and treated them with either lipoteichoic acid (LTA) or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to activate LTR2 or 4 respectively. Following 24 hours of stimulation, we then performed RNA sequencing to profile mRNA responses between non-treated (NT), LTA and LPS treated samples for each diagnosis (control or ASD). 3'QuantSeq on mRNA from PBMCs from children with ASD, PDDNOS or Typical development. Cells were cultured with no treatment (NT) or immune stimulation (LPS or LTA).