To investigate whether pharmacological approaches could be helpful, researchers used a 16p11.2 equivalent deletion mouse model with the ERK1 gene deleted, and they found that pharmacological inhibitions of ERK signaling (i.e., RB1 and RB3 peptides) rescued cortical cytoarchitecture abnormalities and the abnormal behavioral phenotype associated with this deletion, providing evidence for a potential targeted therapeutic intervention for autism [33]. This evidence concerns the gene MAPK3 and autism.