VCAM1 and atherosclerosis: In the early stage of atherosclerosis, adhesion molecules, such as vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), intracellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), and endothelial cell selectin (E-selectin), are expressed on the endothelial cell surface to facilitate the adhesion of circulating mononuclear cells (MNCs) to endothelial cells and their subsequent migration to the subendothelial space.