COL9A3 and eye disorder: All 12 significant genes associated with the ECM-receptor interaction pathway were upregulated in macular AMD RPE/choroid, with a distinct sub-pathway represented by a group of collagen genes including COL6A3, COL9A3, and COL9A2. The most statistically significant gene in the ECM group was TNC or Tenascin C, which encodes a key ECM component in the nervous system altered in various eye diseases (Kobayashi et al., 2016).