The functional roles of these genes (Fig. 2a) in astrocytes are aberrant in multiple pathways of AD, including lipid metabolism (apolipoprotein E, APOE; lipoprotein lipase, LPL; lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1, LRP1), microtubule organization (microtubule-associated protein 2, MAP2; microtubule-associated protein tau, MAPT; glycogen synthase kinase 3β, GSK3B), and neuroinflammation (interleukin 1-α, IL1A) [29, 37–39]. Here, APOE is linked to Alzheimer disease.