Autism Disorder

With decades of experience in neuroscience, Creative Biolabs has successfully built a comprehensive platform. With our advanced platform and professional team, Creative Biolabs is willing to provide a variety of customized services including animal model establishment, in vivo assays and in vitro assays to facilitate the progress of your autism spectrum disorder (ASD) drug discovery project.

Overview of ASD Drug Discovery

ASD is a pervasive lifelong neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by failures in social communication and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. The diagnostic criteria for autism focus on two core areas: social communication impairment and restricted interest/repetitive behavior. The pathogenesis of autism is complex and closely related to multiple factors, including genetic factors, preterm birth, and fetal exposure to psychotropic drugs or pesticides. It is worth mentioning that a positive correlation has been reported between autism and cancer risk. Treatment strategies for autism are flexible and involve multiple modalities. The treatment portfolio includes conventional therapies such as social skills training and applied behavioral analysis, and pharmacotherapy, as well as alternative therapies such as music therapy and hyperbaric oxygen therapy. New treatments available include gene therapy and stem cell therapy, which have great potential in the treatment of autism. Currently, only some drugs can partially alleviate the core symptoms of autism. Therefore, it is urgent to develop more effective drugs for ASD.

Fig.1 Complex relationships and multifactorial etiology lead to ASD. (Matelski, 2016)

Animal Models available at Creative Biolabs

Although no animal model has been able to capture the complexities of human autism, some models are very promising for probing the underlying molecular mechanisms of autism. More importantly, they allow the testing of treatments. Creative Biolabs provides a variety of animal models including but not limited to valproic acid (VPA) models and zebrafish models to customers around the world.

• VPA models

In-utero exposure to VPA in rodents has been considered to be an attractive model for autism. Compared with models carrying a single autism-related gene mutation, the VPA model represents many idiopathic cases caused by the environment. Therefore, this model opens up new avenues for exploring the neurobiology behind autistic behavior and screening for new drug candidates.

• Zebrafish models

The zebrafish is a novel animal model with great potential for understanding the pathogenesis of complex brain diseases and discovering new treatments. The zebrafish, a highly social and genetically tractable organism, has recently been applied to model various deficits associated with autism.

Featured Cellular Models

• Primary Neuronal Cell Culture Models
• Human iPSC Derived Neuronal Cell Culture Models
• Organotypic Brain Slice Models
• 3D Spheroid Cultures

Our Capabilities

• Immunoassays
• Toxicity Assays
• Functional Assays
• Drug combination assay
• Cell-based drug synergy studies
• Cell Proliferation and Viability Assays

If you are interested in our ASD drug discovery services, please contact us in time for reasonable advice and customized plans.

Reference

1. Matelski, L.; Van de Water, J. Risk factors in autism: Thinking outside the brain. Journal of autoimmunity. 2016, 67: 1-7.