Table 3.

Neurodevelopmental antigens and models.

Protein	Presence of antibodies in mothers of children	Antibodies injected and effects of antibodies on offspring of maternal-to-fetal transfer model: behavior	Effects of antibodies on offspring of maternal-to-fetal transfer model: neuropathology	References
Acetylcholine receptor	Rare mothers with antibodies that inhibit fetal AChR, paralyze baby in utero, and cause multiple fixed joints, with paralysis and death ex utero	Maternal plasma antibodies injected into dams during E13–18 of pregnancy. Proportion of offspring who died at birth or shortly after probably due to lack of respiration	Antibodies present in mouse offspring, offspring showed fixed joints mirroring changes in human babies	(36)
CASPR2	4.9% of mothers with children diagnosed with range of motor and psychological disorders, not autism. HC 0.9%	IgG purified from plasmapheresis samples of two CASPR2-Ab-positive patients. Mice showed changes in cognition and impaired social interactions	Long-term neuropathological changes with activated microglia and glutamatergic synaptic loss	(121, 122)
CASPR2	37% of selected (brain reactive Abs) mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder; 12% of unselected women of childbearing age	MAb binding CASPR2 cloned from the mother of an autistic child. Mice showed impairments in sociability, flexible learning, and repetitive behaviors	Abnormal cortical development, decreased dendritic complexity of excitatory neurons, and reduced numbers of inhibitory neurons in the hippocampus	(123)
NMDAR (NR1 subunit)	Marginal evidence for NMDAR antibodies in mothers of children with any psychiatric/neuropsychiatric disorders	mAbs from NMDAR-Ab-positive women. Mice showed early postnatal mortality (27.2%), altered blood pH, and impaired neurodevelopmental reflexes. Ex vivo, NMDAR reduced in brain, with altered spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents. When adult, persistent hyperactivity, lower anxiety, and impaired sensorimotor gating	NMDAR was reduced (up to 49.2%), and electrophysiological properties were altered, reflected by decreased amplitudes of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents in young neonates (−34.4%). Cerebellum, midbrain, brain stem volumes reduced	(124)