Interestingly, we distinguished several of the novel top genes (PIGR, BST1, and FPR3) with immune functions and confirmed genes previously associated with MS pathology (SEMA4A, HLA-DRA, HLA-DPA1, GPNMB, SLC11A1, CD74, ALOX5, HSPA1A, C1QA and FCGR2B) that align with the active microglial state reported in various neurodegenerative diseases, including MS [20, 21, 25, 27, 69–72]. Here, HLA-DRA is linked to neurodegenerative disease.