Atherosclerosis is characterized by immune cell accumulation in the arterial wall and adaptive CD4+ Th1 immunity contributes to atherosclerosis development. However, how conventional dendritic cells (cDCs) orchestrate this adaptive response remains controversial. This study unveils strategies for the gain and loss of function of cDCs to decipher their role in atherosclerosis induction in relation to adaptive T-cell immunity. 

Using state-of-the-art strategies, our results establish that cDC1s have a proatherogenic role in atherosclerosis by boosting CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell immunity and propose that cDC1s can be targeted with an immunosuppressive drug to decrease atherosclerosis progression.