MIF and hyperlipidemia: Furthermore, the ability of MIF to stimulate oxidized LDL (oxLDL) uptake by macrophages (Atsumi et al., 2000), and its association with protease expression and a reduced PDGF-BB-induced SMC migration (Pan et al., 2004; Schrans-Stassen et al., 2005; Verschuren et al., 2005) may further contribute to MIF’s plaque destabilizing properties in hyperlipidemia-induced atherogenesis.