For instance, in OA, senescent chondrocytes secrete metalloproteinase that degrade cartilage in atherosclerosis (Billinghurst et al., 1997), senescent foam cells secrete CCL2 and VCAM1 to recruit monocytes and trigger their conversion into senescent foam cells and in intervertebral degeneration (Patil et al., 2019), the selective removal of p16INK4A-positive senescent cells by the drug ganciclovir reduces the levels of the inflammatory cytokine IL-6 and the matrix protease MMP13, which mitigates age-associated intervertebral disc degeneration. This evidence concerns the gene MMP13 and atherosclerosis.