Moreover, given that Piezo1 is a mechanically gated ion channel, which has been shown to sense and transduce a variety of different physical cues, and that atherosclerosis is often associated with stiffening of the arterial microenvironment, we next evaluated the role of substrate stiffness in regulating Piezo1-mediated oxLDL uptake. This evidence concerns the gene PIEZO1 and atherosclerosis.