Although the variations within or near Tnfsf4 could be responsible for the increased atherosclerosis susceptibility of DBA over 129 in our cross, they cannot explain both Ath1 and Ath44 since DBA shares an identical DNA sequence in and near Tnfsf4 with the atherosclerosis-resistant BALB/cJ mice, while 129S6 and C3H/HeJ share the same sequence with the atherosclerosis-susceptible C57BL/6J allele. This evidence concerns the gene ATOH1 and atherosclerosis.