STING1 and carotid atherosclerosis: The major findings of this study were: (1) continuous exposure to CSE induces not only nuclear but also mtDNA damage, which leads to cytosolic DNA accumulation, and evokes chronic inflammation via the cGAS-STING pathway in endothelial cells; and (2) free DNA in the cytosol is transferred to the extracellular space in vitro and the cfDNA, especially mt-cfDNA in the blood of patients with carotid atherosclerosis was significantly increased compared with the normal controls and was correlated with severity.