other cases, mutations that likely disrupt protein function are found in genes that are implicated in other neuropsychiatric disorders. Functional annotation of these genes immediately suggests the following molecular features: 1) neuronal ion channels and receptors; 2) synapse-related cytoskeleton and scaffolding proteins; 3) epigenetic and transcriptional regulators; 4) post-translational protein modifiers and regulators. An important question is whether or not the mutations in these genes share a common molecular and/or circuit-level mechanism underlying the pathophysiology of ASDs. Modeling these mutations in animal models is essential to address this question.
