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. 2014 Mar 12;9(3):e90497. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0090497

Figure 1. Atherosclerosis schematics: the presence of ox-LDL in the intima causes monocytes to migrate from the lumen into the intima.

Figure 1

Monocytes differentiate into macrophages which endocytose ox-LDL and become foam cells. SMCs are attracted from the media into intima by chemotaxis and haptotaxis. Cytokines released by macrophages, foam cells and SMCs activate T cells. T cells enhance activation of macrophages. HDL helps prevent atherosclerosis.