SPP1 and infection: The differential gene expression at the different infection stages revealed that the endothelial cells overexpressed fibrosis- and angiogenesis-related genes at the late infection stage, such as Atf3, Ctgf, Mt1/2, Spp1, Rpl41, Tmsb10, and Tomm7 (34–39) (Figure 2I), among which Ctgf promotes fibrosis and angiogenesis in endothelial cells (40, 41).