Dr. Bradford C. Berk at the University of Rochester Medical Center said the work establishes cyclophilin A as an exciting target in the design of drugs against atherosclerosis, the No. 1 cause of heart attacks and strokes, which occur when vessels become completely blocked.

While the study was in mice, higher levels of the study protein have also been found in the blood of human patients with diseased blood vessels.

"For years researchers worldwide have sought to determine exactly how low blood flow and the immune reaction to cholesterol deposits, along with the reactive oxygen species created by both, drive the progression of atherosclerosis," Berk said in a statement. "We are tremendously excited by these results because they provide solid evidence that cyclophilin A is at the center of it all."