PRKAA1 and atherosclerosis: Complementary to this, AMPK, directly and indirectly, stimulates the process of macroautophagy (herein referred to as autophagy), which is critical for processing metabolic substrates, the clearance of damaged or senescent organelles, and, in the context of atherosclerosis, contributes to the mobilization of stored cholesterol in foam cells and reverse cholesterol transport (9).