The first receptor for oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) was identified by Endemann in 1993, followed by work by Moore/Freeman and Febbraio/Silverstein defining the role of CD36 in foam cell formation during atherosclerosis, and later extending its role to sterile inflammatory activation of macrophages in concert with toll-like receptors, as well as its role in coordinating NLRP3 (NOD-, LRR- and pyrin domain-containing protein 3) inflammasome activation by facilitating intracellular nucleation of oxLDL into crystals. Here, NLRP3 is linked to atherosclerosis.