REL and autoimmune disease: c-REL is traditionally known for its role in lymphocyte development,32 but also plays a part in various pathologies, including inflammatory and autoimmune diseases,33 fibrosis,20,34,35 and cancer immunosurveillance.36 Previous studies detected c-REL subunits in ECs and other cell types within human atherosclerotic plaques.9 Despite this, the potential involvement of c-REL in atherosclerosis pathology has remained unexplored.