Relevance to Autism

This gene was originally identified as an ASD candidate gene based on its enrichment in an autism-associated protein interaction module. Sequencing of post-mortem brain tissue from 25 ASD cases resulted in the identification of significant non-synonymous variants in this gene with an expected false-positive rate at 0.1, confirming the involvement of this module with autism; this finding was further validated by exome sequencing of an independent cohort of 505 ASD cases and 491 controls (Li et al., 2014).

Molecular Function

Interleukin-16 stimulates a migratory response in CD4+ lymphocytes, monocytes, and eosinophils. Isoform 1 may act as a scaffolding protein that anchors ion channels in the membrane, whereas isoform 3 is involved in cell cycle progression in T-cells.

External Links

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