Alzheimer disease (AD)-associated loci identified by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) only partly explain the genetic risk for this common neurodegenerative dementia. A recent GWAS of an alternative phenotype—cerebrospinal fluid tau levels—has uncovered new genetic variants that might further account for risk of AD and provide novel pathophysiological insights.
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Acknowledgements
Work in the Ertekin-Taner laboratory has been funded by the NIH, National Institute on Aging (R01AG032990, P50AG016574), Cure PSP Society, GHR Foundation, Siragusa Foundation and Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine.
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Ertekin-Taner, N. The quest for Alzheimer disease genes—focus on CSF tau. Nat Rev Neurol 9, 368–370 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2013.117
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2013.117
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