In the early step of atherosclerosis, activated ECs release chemokines (eg. monocyte chemotactic protein 1, MCP-1) and adhesion molecules (eg., intercellular adhesion molecule 1, ICAM1 and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1, VCAM1), inducing the attachment of monocytes to the arterial vessel wall (Potteaux et al., 2011; Moore et al., 2015). Here, VCAM1 is linked to atherosclerosis.