In the 3-month-old hippocampi (Figure 4B), we found significant sex-dependent changes for Adnp+/– gene regulation and NAP rescue in the following genes in male mice: (a) apolipoprotein E (Apoe), the lead gene for Alzheimer’s disease risk, which was shown before to be a major gene regulated by ADNP (10, 13); (b) Gm21949, which is suggested to play a role in calcium-mediated responses, action potential conduction in myelinated cells, and axonal outgrowth and guidance (6); (c) lipase A (Lipa), which is related to lipid metabolism and was previously shown to be regulated by the Adnp genotype in mice (3); (d) autism-associated neuroligin 2 (Nlgn2), a postsynaptic membrane cell adhesion protein that mediates the formation and maintenance of synapses between neurons (12); (e) paired box protein 6 (Pax6), a key regulator in glutamatergic neuronal differentiation (38) and cortical development (39), which was shown before by us to be regulated by ADNP (complete knockout of Adnp rendered Pax6 expression undetectable in the brain primordium, contrasting with increased expression in Adnp+/– embryos [ref. 1] and in subcortical brain domains of 2-month-old male Adnp+/– mice [ref. 3]); and (f) Wolframin endoplasmic reticulum transmembrane glycoprotein (Wfs1), which is associated with neurodegeneration and cellular calcium homeostasis regulation and was previously shown to be regulated by NAP (34).
