Furthermore, gene targeting of Tnfsf4 in mice showed that deficient animals had significantly smaller atherosclerotic lesions and higher levels of plasma total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol than controls, while mice over-expressing Tnfsf4 had significantly larger atherosclerotic lesions when compared to controls, indicating that Tnfsf4 is a gene influencing atherosclerosis susceptibility in mice. The gene discussed is TNFSF4; the disease is atherosclerosis.