Chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) serves as a critical upstream regulator of lipophagy and lipid metabolism in hepatocyte. However, the role of CMA in lipid metabolism of macrophage, the typical component of atherosclerotic plaque, remains unclear. In our study, LAMP-2A (L2A, a CMA marker) was reduced in macrophages exposed to high dose of oleate, and lipophagy was impaired in advanced atherosclerosis in ApoE (−/−) mice. Primary peritoneal macrophages isolated from macrophage-specific L2A-deficient mice exhibited pronounced intracellular lipid accumulation. Lipid regulatory enzymes, including long-chain-fattyacid-CoA ligase 1 (ACSL1) and lysosomal acid lipase (LAL), were increased and reduced in L2A-KO macrophage, respectively. Other lipid-related proteins, such as SR-A, SR-B (CD36), ABCA1, or PLIN2, were not associated with increased lipid content in L2A-KO macrophage. In conclusion, deficient CMA promotes lipid accumulation in macrophage probably by regulating enzymes involved in lipid metabolism. CMA may represent a novel therapeutic target to alleviate atherosclerosis by promoting lipid metabolism. Keywords Atherosclerosis. Chaperone-mediated autophagy. Lipid metabolism. Long-chain-fatty-acid-CoA ligase 1. Lysosomal acid lipase Abbreviations CMA Chaperone-mediated autophagy LAMP-2A Lysosome-associated membrane glycoprotein 2, isoform A OL Oleate PLIN2 Lipid-associated proteins perilipin 2 SR Scavenger receptor ABCA1 ATP-binding cassette sub family A member 1 ACSL1 Long-chain-fatty-acid-CoA ligase 1 LAL Lysosomal acid lipase Lei Qiao and He-feng Wang contributed equally to this work.