20Panic disorder (PD) is characterized by abrupt surges of intense fear and distress. There is evidence 21 for a genetic component in this disorder. We ran a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies 22 of patients with PD, and found 25 single-nucleotide polymorphisms that were associated with the 23 disorder. Causal gene prediction based on these polymorphisms uncovered 20 hits. Exploratory 24 analyses suggested that these genes formed interactor networks, which was enriched in signaling 25 pathways associated with immune and inflammatory responses, as well as growth factors and other 26 developmental mediators. A subset of genes is enriched in limbic regions of the human brain and in 27 microglia and myelinating oligodendrocytes of mice. While these genes were not associated with 28 relevant neurobehavioral phenotypes in mutant mice, expression levels of several causal genes in 29 the amygdala, prefrontal cortex, hippocampus,, hypothalamus, and adrenal gland of recombinant 30 mouse strains was associated with endophenotypes of fear conditioning. Drug repositioning 31 prediction was unsuccessful, but this does not discard these genes and pathways as targets for 32 investigational drugs. In general, ASB3, EIF2S2, RASGRF2, and TRMT2B (and its coded proteins) 33 emerged as interesting targets for mechanistic research on PD. These exploratory findings point 34 towards hypotheses of pathogenesis and neuropharmacology that need to be further investigated. 35