Two genes with large differences between untreated cells from AD vs. control subjects are involved in formation and maintenance of synapses: TMOD2 (tropomodulin) and TANC1 (tetratricopeptide repeat, ankyrin repeat and coiled-coil containing 1). TMOD2 is a negative regulator of neurites and is expressed mostly in neurons (Fath, Fischer, Dehmelt, Halpain, & Fowler, 2011). TANC1 is in the post synaptic density and may be important for dendritic spine maintenance (Han et al., 2010).
