This has been addressed to some extent in recent studies which indicate that SARS-CoV infection of Vero E6 cells induces both pro-apoptotic [activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)] and anti-apoptotic [activation of the protein kinase B (PKB, also known as Akt)] signaling pathways, although Akt induction appears to be insufficient to prevent the virus-induced apoptosis [37, 38]. Here, AKT1 is linked to severe acute respiratory syndrome.