STAT3 and atherosclerosis: Furthermore, Xue et al. [37] reported that the expression of p-STAT3 peaked in macrophage-like VSMCs to promote atherosclerosis in HFD-fed ApoE KO mice at the early stage, and progressively downregulated in response to macrophage-derived crosstalk, indicating dynamic changes in the function of macrophage-like VSMCs during atherosclerosis.