Functional Roles of p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase in Macrophage-Mediated Inflammatory Responses

Table 1

p38 family members and their functions in inflammatory responses.

p38 isoform (molecular weight, kDa)	Distribution in tissue	Expressing cells	Inflammatory responses	Reference
p38𝛼 (38)	Ubiquitous	Macrophages, neutrophils	Cytokine production (IL-1𝛽, TNF-𝛼, and IL-6); regulation of enzymes (iNOS, COX2); involvement of cell proliferation and differentiation; induction of cardiomyocyte apoptosis.	[21, 27, 73]
p38𝛽 (39)	Ubiquitous	Endothelial cells, T cells	Regulation of cell differentiation; induction of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy.	[21, 27, 73]
p38𝛾 (43)	Skeletal muscle	Not detected	Muscle differentiation.	[25, 27, 73]
p38𝛿 (40)	Lung, kidney, testis, pancreas, and small intestine	T cells, endothelial cells, and macrophages	Developmentally regulated; involvement of cell differentiation.	[26, 27, 73]