APOE and Alzheimer disease: During AD pathology, microglia can switch from a homeostatic to a disease-associated phenotype, which has been called “microglial neurodegenerative phenotype” (MGnD) or “disease-associated microglia” (DAMs), and which is characterized by the upregulation of a subset of genes including Gpnmb, ApoE, Trem2, and others [17,27].