Although mouse arteries do not display DIT, which mainly consist of VSMCs in human atherosclerosis prone arteries, a recent study showed that VSMCs contribute to the majority of total foam cells in both WT and apoE−/− VSMC lineage-tracing mice, suggesting that despite structural differences between humans and mouse arteries, VSMCs play a central role in atherosclerosis in both humans and murine models [215]. The gene discussed is APOE; the disease is atherosclerosis.