Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are important signaling proteins needed to transmit and relay extracellular stimuli and to illicit intracellular responses (1). The MAPK family of proteins are serine/threonine kinases that are able to phosphorylate and activate downstream kinases in a signal cascade that regulates diverse cell responses such as gene expression, metabolism, apoptosis, and differentiation (1). Notable members of the MAPK family include ERK, JNK, and p38 (1).
