One hypothetical explanation could be that the variation in the NECTIN2 gene might increase the host vulnerability to infections, e.g., herpesviruses, which in turn may promote neural damage and pTau accumulation in the brain, contributing to neurodegeneration (Liu et al., 2018; Readhead et al., 2018; Powell-Doherty et al., 2020; Cairns et al., 2022; Ogawa et al., 2022; Goldhardt et al., 2023). Here, NECTIN2 is linked to infection.