The atherosclerosis protective circRNA antisense non-coding RNA in the INK4 locus (circANRIL) modulates the function of pescadillo homologue 1 (PES1), an important 60S-preribosomal assembly factor, and protects against atherogenesis by modulating ribosomal RNA (rRNA) maturation in human smooth muscle cells and macrophages, thereby inducing apoptosis and inhibiting cellular proliferation (Holdt et al., 2016). This evidence concerns the gene PES1 and atherosclerosis.