In autism, communication between neurons in the brain is not typical. Communication relies on the delicate balance of thousands and thousands of different proteins, so if any of these are under or overactive, communication in that given pathway will be altered. AC3, which I discussed as a regulator of many proteins, is found in neurons throughout the entire central nervous system, therefore communication in many pathways is altered.

The brain is not as simple as ‘change this protein and have this behavioural effect’ - each protein is involved in countless different processes, and functions differently in those different context. So the proteins can’t be linked to any specific aspects of autism, but rather contribute to the overall changes in brain circuitry that give rise to the many complex parts of autism.

Since you understood the dopamine reference (woohoo!) I’m thinking you may know a lot of this already though. Unfortunately the exact mechanism by which AC3 regulates phosphorylation is still unclear, but GWAS studies have associated it with major depressive disorder and autism.