“…This proteasome is a large multicatalytic proteinase that functions as a central switch within the cell by selectively degrading a multitude of proteins, including metabolic enzymes, transcription factors and cell cycle regulators (Rivett, 1989; Maki et al, 1996; Dimmeler et al, 1999; Salghetti et al, 1999; Karin & Delhase, 2000). Not surprisingly therefore, the proteasomal alpha subunit type 6 gene ( PSMA6 ), a component of the ubiquitin‐proteasome system has been associated with MI (Ozaki et al, 2006; Barbieri et al, 2008), type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) (Sjakste et al, 2007b), greater intima‐media thickness (Takashima et al, 2007), and possibly atherosclerosis (Takashima et al, 2007). On the other hand, its role in conferring risk for cardiovascular‐related events in general has been called into question recently by a number of studies pointing to lack of association with these disorders in some ethnic groups (Sjakste et al, 2007b; Takashima et al, 2007; Banerjee et al, 2008; Bennett et al, 2008).…”