Decreased phosphorylation of AMOT and Yes-associated protein 1 (YAP) in TFPI-1<sup>fl/fl</sup>/Sma-Cre<sup>+</sup>ApoE<sup>-/-</sup> mice resulted in increased expression levels of snail family zinc finger 2 (SLUG) and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), which are target genes of the Hippo signaling pathway that have been verified as atherosclerosis candidate genes.
It is generally recognized that CTGF contributes to atherosclerosis by stimulating vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation and extracellular matrix production during the development of atherosclerosis.
CTGF, IL-8) whose responsiveness to shear stress had not been demonstrated, other known genes whose relationship to atherosclerosis had not been reported, and novel genes.
Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) is a member of an emerging CCN gene family that is implicated in various diseases associated with fibro-proliferative disorder including scleroderma and atherosclerosis.