Vascular smooth muscle cells, constituting the medial layer of the artery wall, play a crucial role in the physiological functions of the blood vessels, such as vasoconstriction and vasodilatation, but also in the pathogenesis of vascular diseases, particularly hypertension and atherosclerosis, in which increased apoptosis and expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) are observed [36]. The gene discussed is ICAM1; the disease is atherosclerosis.