Interestingly, several of the genes we identified, namely IL-1ra, IL-6, C1s, MMP-2, PPAR gamma, Csf2ra and many extracellular cytokines, peptidases, peptidase inhibitors, were previously found to be differentially expressed in SCA3 disease-relevant models, including rat cell lines expressing expanded ATNX3 versus non-expanded ATXN3 [23] and human blood samples from SCA3 patients versus unaffected individuals [50]. Here, ATXN3 is linked to Spinocerebellar ataxia type 3.