APOE and atherosclerosis: Although major advances in our understanding of atherosclerosis have come from Apo E−/− and LDLR−/− atherosclerosis-prone mice, the majority of studies focus on plaques in aortic regions of the vasculature (ie. descending aorta and aortic root) with very limited data available on carotid plaques [2], the rupture of which lead to stroke.