Experimental Animal Division

  Mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase cascades are highly conserved signal transduction pathways involved in a variety of physiological events. The MAP kinase family consists of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK), c-Jun NH2-terminal protein kinase (JNK), and p38 MAP kinase. p38α, one of the p38 MAP kinase subfamily, is widely expressed and has an important function in cytokine production and the response to many types of stress. Because p38α-deficient mice (BRC No. 00361 C57BL/6-TgH(p38)/118) showed embryonic lethality at midgestation, this strain is useful for the research of p38 MAP kinase pathway in various tissues using Cre-loxP system.