In atherosclerosis, OxLDL can directly activate the downstream NF‐κB signal transduction pathway through DAMP to increase the NLRP3 inflammasome of the expression, ASC (apoptosis‐associated speck‐like protein containing a CARD), pro‐IL‐1 β and pro‐IL‐18 (Figure 1). The gene discussed is NLRP3; the disease is atherosclerosis.