AUTS2 and autism: AUTS2 is a highly conserved protein, primarily expressed in the brain in various neuronal cell types including glutamatergic, GABAergic, and dopaminergic neurons, as well as in regions implicated in autism neuropathology, such as the cerebral cortex and cerebellum (Sultana et al. 2002; Kalscheuer et al. 2007; Bedogni et al. 2010; Wagner et al. 2013).