Browsing by Subject "Atherosclerosis"

Now showing 1 - 12 of 12

Open Access
Chlamydia pneumoniae hijacks a host autoregulatory IL-1β loop to drive foam cell formation and accelerate atherosclerosis
(Cell Press, 2018) Tumurkhuu, G.; Dagvadorj, J.; Porritt, R. A.; Crother, T. R.; Shimada, K.; Tarling, E. J.; Erbay, E.; Arditi, M.; Chen, S.
Pathogen burden accelerates atherosclerosis, but the mechanisms remain unresolved. Activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome is linked to atherogenesis. Here we investigated whether Chlamydia pneumoniae (C.pn) infection engages NLRP3 in promoting atherosclerosis. C.pn potentiated hyperlipidemia-induced inflammasome activity in cultured macrophages and in foam cells in atherosclerotic lesions of Ldlr−/− mice. C.pn-induced acceleration of atherosclerosis was significantly dependent on NLRP3 and caspase-1. We discovered that C.pn-induced extracellular IL-1β triggers a negative feedback loop to inhibit GPR109a and ABCA1 expression and cholesterol efflux, leading to accumulation of intracellular cholesterol and foam cell formation. Gpr109a and Abca1 were both upregulated in plaque lesions in Nlrp3−/− mice in both hyperlipidemic and C.pn infection models. Mature IL-1β and cholesterol may compete for access to the ABCA1 transporter to be exported from macrophages. C.pn exploits this metabolic-immune crosstalk, which can be modulated by NLRP3 inhibitors to alleviate atherosclerosis. Infections can accelerate atherosclerosis, but the mechanisms remain unresolved. Tumurkhuu et al. show that C.pn infection-induced IL-1β institutes negative feedback to inhibit Gpr109a, ABCA1 expression, and cholesterol efflux, leading to accumulation of intracellular cholesterol. Mature IL-1β can use ABCA1 for secretion from macrophages to the detriment of cholesterol efflux.
Open Access
Double bond configuration of palmitoleate is critical for atheroprotection
(Elsevier, 2019) Çimen, I.; Yıldırım, Zehra; Doğan, Aslı Ekin; Yıldırım, Aslı Dilber; Tufanlı, Ö.; Onat, Umut İnci; Nguyen, U.; Watkins, S.; Weber, C.; Erbay, Ebru
Objective Saturated and trans fat consumption is associated with increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Current dietary guidelines recommend low fat and significantly reduced trans fat intake. Full fat dairy can worsen dyslipidemia, but recent epidemiological studies show full-fat dairy consumption may reduce diabetes and CVD risk. This dairy paradox prompted a reassessment of the dietary guidelines. The beneficial metabolic effects in dairy have been claimed for a ruminant-derived, trans fatty acid, trans-C16:1n-7 or trans-palmitoleate (trans-PAO). A close relative, cis-PAO, is produced by de novo lipogenesis and mediates inter-organ crosstalk, improving insulin-sensitivity and alleviating atherosclerosis in mice. These findings suggest trans-PAO may be a useful substitute for full fat dairy, but a metabolic function for trans-PAO has not been shown to date. Methods Using lipidomics, we directly investigated trans-PAO's impact on plasma and tissue lipid profiles in a hypercholesterolemic atherosclerosis mouse model. Furthermore, we investigated trans-PAO's impact on hyperlipidemia-induced inflammation and atherosclerosis progression in these mice. Results Oral trans-PAO supplementation led to significant incorporation of trans-PAO into major lipid species in plasma and tissues. Unlike cis-PAO, however, trans-PAO did not prevent organelle stress and inflammation in macrophages or atherosclerosis progression in mice. Conclusions A significant, inverse correlation between circulating trans-PAO levels and diabetes incidence and cardiovascular mortality has been reported. Our findings show that trans-PAO can incorporate efficiently into the same pools that its cis counterpart is known to incorporate into. However, we found trans-PAO's anti-inflammatory and anti-atherosclerotic effects are muted due to its different structure from cis-PAO.
Open Access
Identification of a novel substrate of IRE1 in lipotoxic stress response
(2022-02) Yıldırım, Zehra
Fragile X Mental Retardation protein (FMRP), widely known for its role in hereditary intellectual disability, is a ribonucleic acid (RNA)-binding protein (RBP) that controls translation of select messenger RNAs (mRNAs). I discovered that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress induces phosphorylation of FMRP on a site that is known to enhance translation inhibition of FMRP-bound mRNAs. I show ER stress-induced activation of Inositol requiring enzyme-1 (IRE1), an ER-resident stress-sensing kinase/endoribonuclease, leads to FMRP phosphorylation and to suppression of macrophage cholesterol efflux and apoptotic cell clearance (efferocytosis). Conversely, FMRP-deficiency and pharmacological inhibition of IRE1 kinase activity enhances cholesterol efflux and efferocytosis, reducing atherosclerosis in mice. The results presented in my thesis provide mechanistic insights into how ER stress-induced IRE1 kinase activity contributes to macrophage cholesterol homeostasis and suggest IRE1 inhibition could be developed as a promising new therapeutic strategy to counteract atherosclerosis.
Open Access
Identification of differentially expressed microRNAs during lipotoxic endoplasmic reticulum stress in RAW264.7 macrophages
(Turkish Biochemistry Society, 2016-06) Nadir, M.; Tufanlı, Ö.; Erbay, E.; Atalay, A.
Objective: Increased fatty acids in the circulation and their accumulation in non-adipose tissues play a significant role in the development of obesity related metabolic and inflammatory disorders such as insulin resistance, diabetes and atherosclerosis. While fat tissue has the ability to store excess fatty acids, uptake of excess fatty acids to other tissues burdens intracellular metabolic organelles such as mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum (ER), leading to stress response and lipotoxic cell death. Unfolded protein response (UPR) is a key adaptation of the ER to stress. It is still not completely clear how lipids engage the UPR and how UPR manages both the adaptive and destructive consequences under its control. Increasing evidence point to the importance of miRNA regulation of the UPR as well as UPR’s role in miRNA biogenesis. In order to understand how lipids engage the UPR, we set forth to identify microRNAs regulated by lipotoxic ER stress in macrophages. Methods: We stressed the mouse macrophage cell line (RAW 264.7) with a saturated fatty acid, 500μM palmitate, reflecting the levels found in the circulation of obese patients. We analyzed the microRNAome profiles of this cell line using QRT-PCR based miScript miRNA PCR array which contained all known mouse microRNAs in miRBase release16 and performed pathway analysis for potential targets. Results: 227 microRNAs showed altered expression levels; 43 microRNAs above 2 fold difference and 13 microRNAs 3-24 fold difference. Pathway analysis enriched the target mRNAs of these lipotoxic ER stress associated miRNAs. Conclusion: When exposed to high concentrations of saturated fatty acids that can induce ER stress, macrophages display a dynamic range of changes in their microRNAome profiles. Our findings reflect the consequences of lipotoxic stress on circulating monocytes and tissue-associated macrophages in obesity. Further studies are needed to deliniate which UPR arm is reponsible for the microRNA changes reported here.
Open Access
Intercepting IRE1 kinase-FMRP signaling prevents atherosclerosis progression
(EMBO Press, 2022-02-22) Yıldırım, Zehra; Baboo, S.; Hamid, S.M.; Doğan, Asli E.; Tufanlı, Ö.; Robichaud, S.; Emerton, C.; Diedrich, J.K.; Vatandaşlar, H.; Nikolos, F.; Gu, Y.; Iwawaki, T.; Tarling, E.; Ouimet, M.; Nelson, D.L.; Yates, J.R.; Walter, P.; Erbay, E.
Fragile X Mental Retardation protein (FMRP), widely known for its role in hereditary intellectual disability, is an RNA-binding protein (RBP) that controls translation of select mRNAs. We discovered that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress induces phosphorylation of FMRP on a site that is known to enhance translation inhibition of FMRP-bound mRNAs. We show ER stress-induced activation of Inositol requiring enzyme-1 (IRE1), an ER-resident stress-sensing kinase/endoribonuclease, leads to FMRP phosphorylation and to suppression of macrophage cholesterol efflux and apoptotic cell clearance (efferocytosis). Conversely, FMRP deficiency and pharmacological inhibition of IRE1 kinase activity enhances cholesterol efflux and efferocytosis, reducing atherosclerosis in mice. Our results provide mechanistic insights into how ER stress-induced IRE1 kinase activity contributes to macrophage cholesterol homeostasis and suggests IRE1 inhibition as a promising new way to counteract atherosclerosis.
Open Access
Intercepting the lipid-induced integrated stress response reduces atherosclerosis
(Elsevier, 2019) Onat, Umut I.; Yıldırım, Aslı D.; Tufanlı, Özlem; Çimen, İsmail; Kocatürk, Begüm; Veli, Zehra; Hamid, S.; Shimada, K.; Chen, S.; Sin, J.; Shah, P.; Gottlieb, R.; Arditi, M.; Erbay, Ebru
Background Eukaryotic cells can respond to diverse stimuli by converging at serine-51 phosphorylation on eukaryotic initiation factor 2 alpha (eIF2α) and activate the integrated stress response (ISR). This is a key step in translational control and must be tightly regulated; however, persistent eIF2α phosphorylation is observed in mouse and human atheroma. Objectives Potent ISR inhibitors that modulate neurodegenerative disorders have been identified. Here, the authors evaluated the potential benefits of intercepting ISR in a chronic metabolic and inflammatory disease, atherosclerosis. Methods The authors investigated ISR’s role in lipid-induced inflammasome activation and atherogenesis by taking advantage of 3 different small molecules and the ATP-analog sensitive kinase allele technology to intercept ISR at multiple molecular nodes. Results The results show lipid-activated eIF2α signaling induces a mitochondrial protease, Lon protease 1 (LONP1), that degrades phosphatase and tensin-induced putative kinase 1 and blocks Parkin-mediated mitophagy, resulting in greater mitochondrial oxidative stress, inflammasome activation, and interleukin-1β secretion in macrophages. Furthermore, ISR inhibitors suppress hyperlipidemia-induced inflammasome activation and inflammation, and reduce atherosclerosis. Conclusions These results reveal endoplasmic reticulum controls mitochondrial clearance by activating eIF2α-LONP1 signaling, contributing to an amplified oxidative stress response that triggers robust inflammasome activation and interleukin-1β secretion by dietary fats. These findings underscore the intricate exchange of information and coordination of both organelles’ responses to lipids is important for metabolic health. Modulation of ISR to alleviate organelle stress can prevent inflammasome activation by dietary fats and may be a strategy to reduce lipid-induced inflammation and atherosclerosis.
Open Access
Ischemic stroke phenotype in patients with nonsustained atrial fibrillation
(Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2015) Arsava, E. M.; Bas, D. F.; Atalar, Ergin; Has, A. C.; Oguz, K. K.; Topcuoglu, M. A.
Background and Purpose: The widespread use of ambulatory cardiac monitoring has not only increased the detection of high-risk arrhythmias like persistent and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF), but also made it possible to identify other aberrations such as short-lasting (<30 seconds) irregular runs of supraventricular tachycardia. Ischemic stroke phenotype might be helpful in understanding whether these nonsustained episodes play a similar role in stroke pathophysiology like their persistent and paroxysmal counterparts. Methods: In a consecutive series of patients with ischemic stroke, we retrospectively determined clinical and imaging features associated with nonsustained AF (n=126), defined as <30-second-lasting supraventricular tachyarrhythmias with irregular RR interval on 24-hour Holter monitoring, and compared them to patients with persistent/paroxysmal AF (n=239) and no AF (n=246). Results: Patients with persistent/paroxysmal AF significantly differed from patients with nonsustained AF by a higher prevalence of female sex (odds ratio [95% confidence interval], 1.8 [1.1-2.9]), coronary artery disease (1.9 [1.1-3.0]), and embolic imaging features (2.7 [1.1-6.5]), and lower frequency of smoking (0.4 [0.2-0.8]) and hyperlipidemia (0.5 [0.3-0.8]). In contrast, patients with no AF were younger (0.5 [0.4-0.6] per decade) and more likely to be male (1.7 [1.0-2.8]) in comparison with nonsustained AF population. The prevalence of nonsustained AF was similar among cryptogenic and noncryptogenic stroke patients (32% versus 29%). Voxel-wise comparison of lesion probability maps revealed no significant difference between cryptogenic stroke patients with and without nonsustained AF. Conclusions: Clinical features of patients with nonsustained AF exhibited an intermediary phenotype in between patients with persistent/paroxysmal AF and no AF. Furthermore, imaging features did not entirely resemble patterns observed in patients with longer durations of AF.
Open Access
Jnk1 deficiency in hematopoietic cells suppresses macrophage apoptosis and increases atherosclerosis in low-density lipoprotein receptor null mice
(Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2016) Babaev, V. R.; Yeung, M.; Erbay, E.; Ding, L.; Zhang, Y.; May, J. M.; Fazio, S.; Hotamisligil, G. S.; Linton, M. F.
Objective - The c-Jun NH 2 -terminal kinases (JNK) are regulated by a wide variety of cellular stresses and have been implicated in apoptotic signaling. Macrophages express 2 JNK isoforms, JNK1 and JNK2, which may have different effects on cell survival and atherosclerosis. Approach and Results - To dissect the effect of macrophage JNK1 and JNK2 on early atherosclerosis, Ldlr-/- mice were reconstituted with wild-type, Jnk1-/-, and Jnk2-/- hematopoietic cells and fed a high cholesterol diet. Jnk1-/- →Ldlr-/- mice have larger atherosclerotic lesions with more macrophages and fewer apoptotic cells than mice transplanted with wild-type or Jnk2-/- cells. Moreover, genetic ablation of JNK to a single allele (Jnk1+/- /Jnk2-/- or Jnk1-/- /Jnk2+/-) in marrow of Ldlr-/- recipients further increased atherosclerosis compared with Jnk1-/- →Ldlr-/- and wild-type→Ldlr-/- mice. In mouse macrophages, anisomycin-mediated JNK signaling antagonized Akt activity, and loss of Jnk1 gene obliterated this effect. Similarly, pharmacological inhibition of JNK1, but not JNK2, markedly reduced the antagonizing effect of JNK on Akt activity. Prolonged JNK signaling in the setting of endoplasmic reticulum stress gradually extinguished Akt and Bad activity in wild-type cells with markedly less effects in Jnk1-/- macrophages, which were also more resistant to apoptosis. Consequently, anisomycin increased and JNK1 inhibitors suppressed endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated apoptosis in macrophages. We also found that genetic and pharmacological inhibition of phosphatase and tensin homolog abolished the JNK-mediated effects on Akt activity, indicating that phosphatase and tensin homolog mediates crosstalk between these pathways. Conclusions - Loss of Jnk1, but not Jnk2, in macrophages protects them from apoptosis, increasing cell survival, and this accelerates early atherosclerosis.
Open Access
Prevention of fatty acid-induced inflammasome activation by a bioactive lipokine
(2014-08) Koyuncu, Seda
Exposure to excess lipids such as fatty acids and cholesterol leads to cellular stress, release of reactive oxygen species (ROS), inflammation dysfunction and death. These responses have important role in the pathogenesis of chronic metabolic and inflammatory diseases such asobesity, diabetes and atherosclerosis. Recent studies show that fatty acids also cause the formation of inflammatoryprotein complexes that are called inflammasome. Inflammasome promotesthe activation of caspase-1 protein and cleavage of inactive interleukin-1 beta(IL-1β) and interleukin-18 (IL-18) into their active, secreted forms.Two signals are required for the activation of inflammasome. The first signal (also known as priming step) is needed for the inducing the expression ofthe proinflammatory factors pro-IL-1β and pro-IL-18 andthe nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain receptor (NOD-like receptor) family, pyrin domain containing-3 (NLRP3) proteins through the activation of nuclear factor kappa beta (NF-κB),a transcription factor. The second signal is needed for the activation of caspase-1 and formation of the inflammasome complex. Saturated free fatty acids such as palmitate are known to cause the activation of inflammasome through generation of mitochondrial ROS as a second signal for inflammasome complex formation. In this study, I investigated the effect of palmitoleate, a bioactive monounsaturated fatty acidpreviously shown to counteract lipid-induced ER stress and enhance insulin sensitivity, on palmitate-induced activation of inflammasome complex. I observed that palmitoleate lead to a significant reduction in palmitate-stimulatedIL-1β transcription. Moreover, it reduced the expression of palmitate-stimulated secondary proinflammatory factors such as tumor necrosis factor alpha(TNF-a).Palmitoleate also diminished the palmitate induced activation of caspase-1, maturation and secretion of IL-1β in macrophages. To further understand the mechanism of the protective role of palmitoleate on palmitate induced inflammasome activation,I analyzed the effect of palmitoleate on palmitate-induced mtROS in macrophages cells were analyzed. These studies showed palmitoleate decreased palmitate induced mitochondrial oxygen species in macrophages. Moreover, I investigated the effect of palmitoleate on palmitate-induced inactivation of 5' AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)controls autopaghy and clearance of dysfunctional mitochondria, thereby reducing mtROS formation. Palmitoleate blocked the suppression of AMPK phosphorylation that was suppressed by palmitate, suggesting PAO's impact on mtROS secretion and inflammasome activation occurs by this upstream mechanism. Saturated fatty acids like palmitate are also known to cause endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, whichbe counteracted by palmitolate treatment. When ER stress happens, cells try to solve stress by activating the unfolded protein response (UPR). There are three arms of the UPR are Protein Kinase R-resemble like protein kinase (PERK), inositol-requiring enzyme-1 (IRE1) and activating factor 6 (ATF6). In this thesis, contribution of PERK and IRE1 on palmitate-induced activation of inflammasome was investigated. First, the relation between PERK and IRE1 with palmitate-stimulated mtROS was analyzedusing PERK- and IRE1- deficient mouse embryonic fibroblast cells (MEFs).The results of this study show PERK leads to a marked reduction in the formation of mtROS while IRE1 enhanced palmitate induced mtROS.Furthermore, palmitoleate suppressed palmitate-induced autophosphorylation of IRE1 while there was no effect of palmitoleate on palmitate-induced phosphorylation of PERK. In summary, palmitate-induced inflammasome activation can be inhibited by palmitoleate in boththe priming step and the second step.Palmitoleate blocks palmitate-induced suppression of phosphorylation of AMPK, leading to its reactivation and subsequent reduction in mtROS formation. Palmitate is a well-known inducer of ER stress, which can be counteracted by palmitoleic acid. Moreover, the IRE1 branch of the UPR has been shown to control inflammasome activationby regulating of mtROS production under lipotoxicity. The outcome of my studies show that the UPR branches initiated by PERK and IRE1 regulate mtROS production and therefore, palmitoleate may also block inflammasome activation induced by palmitate through this alternative mechanism.These findings imply that palmitoleate may have therapeutic applications inthe management of diseases where inflammasome activation has been shown to play a causal role such as obesity, diabetes and atherosclerosis.
Open Access
The role of IRE1 in metaflammation and atherosclerosis
(2017-05) Tufanlı, Özlem
Chronic metabolic overloading of anabolic and catabolic organelles such as the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondria is a major cause of inflammation in obesity. ER serves as a critical metabolic center for protein, lipid and calcium metabolism. ER’s vital functions are maintained by a conserved, adaptive stress response known as the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR), which strives to re-establish homeostasis. Irremediable ER stress, however, can push the UPR to initiate proinflammatory and pro-apoptotic signaling. UPR activation is seen in all stages of atherosclerotic plaque formation and ER stress is causally associated with atherosclerosis. A profound interest in therapeutically limiting ER stress in a variety of human diseases has driven the discovery of small molecules that can modulate specific UPR signaling arms. These UPR modulators can also become tools to understand the distinct contribution of UPR branches to atherogenesis. In my studies I utilized a specific inhibitor for Inositol-requiring enzyme-1 (IRE1), a dual kinase and endoribonuclease (RNase) in the UPR, to define IRE1’s RNA substrates in macrophages. Using RNA sequencing, I discovered that IRE1’s RNase activity regulates many pro-atherogenic and pro-inflammatory genes in macrophages. The outcome of my studies provides compelling evidence that IRE1, through its target XBP1, regulates the inflammatory response to lipid excess. The data shows that specific inhibitors of IRE1’s RNase activity can uncouple lipid-induced ER stress from immune response in both mouse and human macrophages by blocking mitochondrial reactive oxygen species production and NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Furthermore, administrating two small molecule inhibitors of IRE1’s RNase activity to hypercholestrolemic ApoE deficient (ApoE-/-) mice led to profound suppression of pro-atherogenic cytokine levels in the circulation and blunted T helper-1 type immune response, thus alleviating atherosclerosis. These results demonstrate that therapeutic fine-tuning of IRE1’s RNase activity with small molecule inhibitors could be developed further for atherosclerosis.
Open Access
The role of lipid-induced integrated stress response in metaflammation and atherosclerosis
(2019-07) Onat, Umut İnci
Chronic inflammation resulting from metabolic overloading of organelles (such as the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondria that control cellular homeostasis) is a major cause of metabolic disorders including diabetes, obesity and atherosclerosis. ER is an organelle that plays a critical role in cellular metabolism through biosynthesis of lipids, protein maturation and secretion, and calcium storage. Furthermore, a stressed endoplasmic reticulum maintains cellular homeostasis by initiating a conserved stress response pathway that is known as Unfolded protein response (UPR). UPR is activated in response to diverse stimuli that disrupts ER functions and serves asva pro-survival mechanism to regain ER homeostasis. However, in prolonged or severe ER stress, chronic UPR can promote inflammation and apoptosis. Activated UPR, inflammation and necrosis are observed in and causally associated with atherosclerosis. UPR has three branches, one of which is initiated by the protein kinase RNA (PKR) like ER kinase (PERK) and signals to eukaryotic initiation factor 2a (eIF2a). This signaling arm of the UPR is also part of a larger, translational control pathway known as the integrated stress response (ISR). Activation of ISR has been observed in atherosclerosis and could promote atherosclerosis To study the contribution of ISR to atherogenesis, I took advantage of three small molecule inhibitors that can modulate this pathway. I also used a chemical-genetic approach, known as the Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) analog sensitive kinase (ASKA) technology, to interrupt PERK kinase activity. With these multiple tools, I was able to specifically interfere with ISR signaling at multiple molecular nodes in order to study the role of lipid-induced ISR in inflammation, inflammasome activation and atherosclerosis. I discovered that during lipid-induced ER stress, PERK to Activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) signaling resulted in transcriptional induction of a mitochondrial protease, Lon protease 1 (LONP1), which degrades PTEN induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1) and blocks Parkin-mediated mitochondria clearance (or mitophagy). This in turn causes an increase in mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, inflammasome activation and pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion such as interleukin-1b (IL-1b) in both mouse and human macrophages. I also discovered that these inhibitors are also effective in reducing hyperlipidemia-induced inflammasome activation in Apolipoprotein E-deficient (Apoe/- ) mice and consequently, in preventing atherosclerosis progression. These results point out that intercepting with ISR signaling in hypercholestrolemia can be considered as a novel therapeutic approach that could be developed against atherosclerosis.
Open Access
Targeting IRE1 with small molecules counteracts progression of atherosclerosis
(National Academy of Sciences, 2017-01) Tufanli, O.; Akillilar, P. T.; Acosta-Alvear, D.; Kocaturk, B.; Onat, U. I.; Hamid, S. M.; Çimen, I.; Walter, P.; Weber, C.; Erbay, E.
Metaflammation, an atypical, metabolically induced, chronic lowgrade inflammation, plays an important role in the development of obesity, diabetes, and atherosclerosis. An important primer for metaflammation is the persistent metabolic overloading of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), leading to its functional impairment. Activation of the unfolded protein response (UPR), a homeostatic regulatory network that responds to ER stress, is a hallmark of all stages of atherosclerotic plaque formation. The most conserved ERresident UPR regulator, the kinase/endoribonuclease inositol-requiring enzyme 1 (IRE1), is activated in lipid-laden macrophages that infiltrate the atherosclerotic lesions. Using RNA sequencing in macrophages, we discovered that IRE1 regulates the expression of many proatherogenic genes, including several important cytokines and chemokines. We show that IRE1 inhibitors uncouple lipid-induced ER stress from inflammasome activation in both mouse and human macrophages. In vivo, these IRE1 inhibitors led to a significant decrease in hyperlipidemia-induced IL-1β and IL-18 production, lowered T-helper type-1 immune responses, and reduced atherosclerotic plaque size without altering the plasma lipid profiles in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice. These results show that pharmacologic modulation of IRE1 counteracts metaflammation and alleviates atherosclerosis.