MMP9 and arteriosclerosis: We found that among the genes with high H3K9me2 levels within ±1kb of their transcription start site were 63 genes listed as arteriosclerosis-associated on the Cardiovascular Disease Portal39 (Table I in the online-only Data Supplement), including several inflammation-responsive MMPs, such as Mmp3, Mmp9, and Mmp12. ChIP-qPCR using cultured primary murine VSMCs confirmed abundant H3K9me2 levels at Mmp3, Mmp9, and Mmp12 as well as the positive control locus Magea2 compared with the negative control, Actb (Figure 2A).