TLR4 and atherosclerosis: MyD88 and NF-κB are the downstream effectors of TLR4,13 which regulate the expression of many inflammatory genes and participate in the development of diseases, including cancer,25 brain injury,26 inflammatory bowel disease and atherosclerosis.27, 28, 29 In the present study, the expression of MyD88, NF-κB p65 (nuclei) and p-IκBα were induced by oxLDL in VSMCs from WT mice, which was impaired markedly in VSMCs from TLR4−/− mice, suggesting that MyD88/NF-κB signaling exerts important role downstream of TLR4 in inflammation during VSMC foam cell formation.