Genes of interest in this region include SLC1A3 and CDH12. SLC1A3 (solute carrier family 1 (glial high affinity glutamate transporter), member 3; gene map locus 5p13) is a glutamatergic neurotransmission gene with expression levels found to be significantly elevated in post-mortem prefrontal cortex of alcoholic individuals compared to non-alcoholic controls (Flatscher-Bader et al., 2005; Flatscher-Bader and Wilce, 2006). CDH12 (cadherin 12, gene map locus 5p14-p13) shows increased expression in post-mortem temporal cortex of individuals with a history of alcohol abuse or dependence compared to controls (Sokolov et al., 2003) and similarly, in the orbitofrontal cortex in violent suicide victims compared to non-psychiatric controls (Thalmeier et al., 2008). Cell adhesion-related genes such as CDH12 have roles in building and maintaining synaptic structures (Benson et al., 2000), pointing to possible disturbances of synaptic neuroplasticity in individuals with alcohol dependence (Sokolov et al., 2003).
