DUSP4 and infection: As no discernible change in the healing disease phenotype was observed between MKP-2−/− and MKP-2+/+ mice infected with L. major, and given that classically activated macrophages from MKP-2−/− mice were equally as effective as their wild-type counterparts at killing parasites we compared the type-1 response generated in MKP-2+/+ and MKP-2−/− following infection.