In order to study the functional effect of irradiation on inflammatory processes in ECs, we focused on 3 pro-inflammatory cytokines known to be involved in atherosclerosis: IL-6 (Schuett et al., 2009), IL-8 (Boisvert et al., 1998), and CCL2 (Harrington, 2000). The gene discussed is CCL2; the disease is atherosclerosis.