MeCP2 is conserved across vertebrates, such as zebrafish, where depletion of MeCP2 results in similar pathologies to Rett syndrome including altered motor behavior, improper synapse formation and acute inflammation (Pietri et al., 2013; Gao et al., 2015; Nozawa et al., 2017; van der Vaart et al., 2017). Here, MECP2 is linked to atypical Rett syndrome.