Contrary to most aging patterns, a significant loss of connectivity with aging was observed for the Lipa metagene that included APOE, HES1, and TGFB2 (Fig. S4). APOE and most of the other Lipa genes were expressed at high levels in all AD patients and some normal individuals. This suggests that upregulation of lipid metabolism happens sometime early in the aging process and that activation of APOE and changes in lipid metabolism are early precursors of disease possibly related to engagement of protection mechanisms.
