Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a prevalent and complex neurodevelopmental disorder which has strong genetic basis. Despite the rapidly rising incidence of autism, little is known about its etiology, risk factors, and disease progression. There are currently neither validated biomarkers for diagnostic screening nor specific medication for autism. Over the last two decades, there have been remarkable advances in genetics, with hundreds of genes identified and validated as being associated with a high risk for autism. The convergence of neuroscience methods is becoming more widely recognized for its significance in elucidating the pathological mechanisms of autism. Efforts have been devoted to exploring the behavioral functions, key pathological mechanisms, and potential treatments of autism. Here, as we highlight in this review, emerging evidence shows that signal transduction molecular events are involved in pathological processes such as transcription, translation, synaptic transmission, epigenetics and immunoinflammatory responses. This involvement has important implications for the discovery of precise molecular targets for autism. Moreover, we review recent insights into the mechanisms and clinical implications of signal transduction in autism from molecular, cellular, neural circuit, and neurobehavioral aspects. Finally, the challenges and future perspectives are discussed with regard to novel strategies predicated on the biological features of autism.

© 2022. The Author(s).

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Chen-Chen Jiang 1, Li-Shan Lin 2, Sen Long 3, Xiao-Yan Ke 4, Kohji Fukunaga 5, Ying-Mei Lu 6, Feng Han 7 8 9

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