SPP1 and Hypercholesterolemia: In contrast, d-flow under hypercholesterolemia induced a further increase in the number of synthetic SMC2 cells at 2 weeks post-PCL, while the number of SMC3 cells (SMC-derived foam cells) expressing markers of foam cells (Trem2, Lgals3, Gpnmb, Spp1, Lpl, and Fabp5) along with the canonical SMC marker Acta2 albeit at a reduced level45,53 exploded at 4 weeks post-PCL (Figure 3B, 3C Panels 9–10).