Using single-cell transcriptome analysis of the brain of AD mice, a recent study on the transcriptional characteristics of plaque-associated microglia found a two-step transition from homeostasis to pathologically related phenotypes, with Trem2, to which Itgax is related, as the main phenotypic regulator (Mancuso et al., 2019). The gene discussed is TREM2; the disease is Alzheimer disease.