In order to determine whether the TFEB-autophagy-p62-mediated effects are causally linked to the observed reduction in atherosclerosis, we developed two new lines of mice by crossing mφTFEB-TG mice with either macrophage-specific autophagy-deficient (mφATG5-KO) or p62-deficient (p62-KO) mice (on a pro-atherogenic ApoE-null background). This evidence concerns the gene APOE and atherosclerosis.