Enhanced glutamatergic currents at birth in Shank3 KO mice

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are neurodevelopmental disorders induced by genetic and environmental factors. In our recent studies, we showed that the GABA developmental shifts during delivery and the second postnatal week are abolished in two rodent models of ASD. Maternal treatment around birth with bumetanide restored the GABA developmental sequence and attenuated the autism pathogenesis in offspring. Clinical trials conducted in parallel confirmed the usefulness of bumetanide treatment to attenuate the symptoms in children with ASD. Collectively, these observations suggest that an alteration of the GABA developmental sequence is a hallmark of ASD. Here, we investigated whether similar alterations occur in the Shank3 mouse model of ASD. We report that in CA3 pyramidal neurons, the driving force and inhibitory action of GABA are not different in naïve and Shank3-mutant age-matched animals at birth and during the second postnatal week. In contrast, the frequency of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents is already enhanced at birth and persists through postnatal day 15. Therefore, in CA3 pyramidal neurons of Shank3-mutant mice, glutamatergic but not GABAergic activity is affected at early developmental stages, hence reflecting the heterogeneity of mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of ASD.