CD40LG and atherosclerosis: Similarly, circulating platelet-leukocyte aggregation, which leads to the development of both atherosclerosis initiation and plaque rupture, is also promoted by CD40L (particularly human platelet-bound or recombinant soluble CD40L) via eliciting the formation and tethering of net-like ultra-large vWF multimers on endothelium (97–99).