Figure 5.
Correlations between gene expression and MMSE in MCI. Genes that facilitate synaptic excitability/plasticity were overwhelmingly associated with poorer MMSE, with strong negative correlations found for glutamate receptors that enhance plasticity including A) GRIA3/GluR3, B) NR2b/GRIN2B, along with CC) SNAP-25, an essential SNARE component involved in synaptic vesicle exocytosis, and D) neural cell adhesion molecule, an adhesion molecule that facilitates AMPA receptor delivery to the synapse, E) ephrin A4 (EPHA4) which is expressed on spines and shapes spine morphology/excitability, and F) Ephrin B2 (EFNB2) which facilitates NMDA signaling. Gene changes that inhibit plasticity were positively associated with MMSE, including G) SNAP29 which inhibits SNARE disassembly and post-fusion SNARE recycling, and H) syntaxin binding protein 6/amysin (STXBP6) which negatively regulates vesicle exocytosis. Statistical threshold for correlations was set at p<0.05.