Consistently, en face staining of lipid-rich lesions from mouse aortas showed that the total lesion area was significantly lower in aortas from ApoE/mitoNEET-Tg than those from ApoE knockout mice (Figures 6B,C), indicating that overexpression of mitoNEET in PVAT inhibits atherosclerosis in mild cold conditions. This evidence concerns the gene APOE and atherosclerosis.