Our analyses prioritized 43 genes as Tier 1 (likely causal) based on weighted sum of evidence scores taken across the functional annotation and post-GWAS analyses. These genes can broadly be classified as neurotransmitter and ion channel synaptic plasticity modulators (e.g., GRIA1, GRM8, CACNA1E), developmental, axon guidance and transcription factors (e.g., FOXP2, EFNA5, DCC), synaptic structure and function genes (e.g., PCLO, NCAM1, PDE4B), and endocrine and immune regulators (e.g., ESR1, TRAF3, TANK). Furthermore, many additional genes with known function in related pathways were genome-wide significant and met Tier 2 prioritization criteria (e.g., GABBR1, CACNA2D2, SLC12A5, CAMKV, SEMA3F, CTNND1, and CD40). Together, these top genes show a remarkable convergence with neural network, synaptic plasticity and immune processes implicated in psychiatric disease. Furthermore, CRHR170,74, WNT375,76, and FOXP277,78, among other genes, are implicated in preclinical and clinical work related to stress, fear and threat-processing brain regions thought to underlie the neurobiology of PTSD. These findings largely support existing mechanistic hypotheses, and it will be important to examine how these genes and pathways function in already identified stress-related neural circuits and biological systems. Furthermore, while
