SPP1 and Alzheimer disease: Furthermore, five genes were consistently significantly associated with the microglial cells from all three samples, namely EEF1A1, GLUL, KIAA1217, LDLRAD3, and SPP1. Curiously, SPP1, also referred as osteopontin, is the only one of these genes among the top 10 DAM markers identified in mouse AD models and previously employed in immunohistochemical staining of the human brain [10].