MYH11 and atherosclerosis: To validate our in vitro findings and determine the potential role of SMC-specific LMOD1 in atherosclerosis, using a previously authenticated LMOD1 antibody [42], we tracked LMOD1 expression in atherosclerotic lesions in the brachiocephalic artery of the SMC-specific lineage tracing mouse Myh11-Cre-ERT2ROSA26-STOPFlox tdTomato Apoe-/- [40] after 18 weeks of high-fat diet and observed that LMOD1 co-localizes with tdTomato-positive cells of SMC-origin in both the media and fibrous cap outside the lesion (Fig 6A–6C).