CD5L and atherosclerosis: Moreover, deletion of a macrophage survival protein, known as AIM (apoptosis inhibitor of macrophage) or IKKα, a protein directly associated with two major prosurvival pathways (PI3K/Akt and NF-κB), renders macrophages highly susceptible to oxLDL-induced cell death and reduces early atherosclerosis in LDLR-/- mice (Arai et al., 2005; Babaev et al., 2016).