APOE and neurodegenerative disease: In neurodegenerative disease, microglia lose their homeostatic profile and acquire a disease-associated signature (disease-associated microglia, DAM), characterized by enhanced expression of Apolipoprotein E (APOE), AXL, colony-stimulating factor 1 (CSF1), C-Type Lectin Domain Family 7a (CLEC7a), Integrin Subunit Alpha X (ITGAX), Cystatin F (CST7) and Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Family Member E40 (BHLHEe4) [29,75,76,77,78,79].