The neuron navigator 2 gene and Alzheimer's disease

Abstract Alzheimer's disease, the most common type of dementia, is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills. The genetic heritability of Alzheimer's disease ranges from 49% to 79% based on reviews of twin and family studies. Several genes/loci have been suggested to be associated with Alzheimer's disease, among which we are interested in the neuron navigator 2 (NAV2) gene. In this review, we have summarized studies of NAV2 and the wealth of evidence demonstrating that NAV2 plays a role in cellular growth, migration, and nervous system development based on animal studies as well as genetic variants of NAV2 in human studies that showed significant association with Alzheimer's disease and age-related phenotypes (including our recent studies with three independent cohorts). Future functional, genomic, and epigenomic studies of these Alzheimer's disease–associated NAV2 variants could help us better understand the pathophysiology of the disease and its related phenotypes.