Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a class of chemicals of considerable
environmental significance. PAHs are chemical contaminants of fused carbon and hydrogen …

Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) are key participants in both early and late-stage
atherosclerosis. VSMCs invade the early atherosclerotic lesion from the media, expanding …

In response to various stimuli, vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) can de-differentiate,
proliferate and migrate in a process known as phenotypic modulation. However, the …

Background The remarkable growth of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) has
created a critical need to experimentally validate the disease-associated variants, 90% of …

Gene enhancer elements are noncoding segments of DNA that play a central role in
regulating transcriptional programs that control development, cell identity, and evolutionary …

Rationale: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality
worldwide. Recent genome-wide association studies revealed 163 loci associated with …

Air pollution is the most important environmental risk factor for disease and premature death,
and exposure to combustion particles from vehicles is a major contributor. Human …

Rationale: The gene encoding TCF21 (transcription factor 21) has been linked to coronary
artery disease risk by human genome-wide association studies in multiple racial ethnic …

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity, driven by
both genetic and environmental risk factors. Meta-analyses of genome-wide association …

Disease-associated genetic variants that lie in non-coding regions found by genome-wide
association studies are thought to alter the functionality of transcription regulatory elements …