APOE and atherosclerosis: To explore the role of CD163 in the process of VC, we crossed atherosclerosis-prone apolipoprotein E–deficient (ApoE–/–) mice with CD163–/– mice (ApoE–/–CD163–/–) (both on a C57BL/6J background) (10) and compared the features of atherosclerosis with ApoE–/– mice.