Abstract:

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease including complex interactions between vascular cells and inflammatory cells. Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription(JAK/STAT) pathway acts as a common intracellular transduction pathway of various of cytokines and growth factors, which involves in many biological activities such as immunological response and growth, migration and apoptosis of vascular cells. The effects of JAK/STAT pathway on the development and progression of atherosclerosis are reviewed in this paper.

Key words: atherosclerosis, JAK/STAT pathway, endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells, inflammatory cells