MAPT and tauopathy: In blood, the top 10 up- and down-regulated AD-DEGs were also identified as MCI-DEGs, and included ribosomal protein genes such as MRPL51, RPL36AL, and RPS25. Ribosome dysfunction is an early event in AD27, and the abnormal tau-ribosomal interactions in tauopathy lead to a decrease in RNA translation28.