ATRX and Alpha-thalassemia - X-linked intellectual disability syndrome: During healthy brain development ARTX is proposed to interact with MECP2, providing a mechanistic link for the intellectual disability and cognitive defects seen in ATR-X syndrome patients, for which deficits of MECP2-ATRX interaction are reported (Gibbons and Higgs, 2000; Nan et al., 2007).