This effect is shown to develop through JAK2/STAT3/p38 MAPK pathways (Nickola et al., 2000; Wold et al., 2002; Sharma et al., 2009; Lopaschuk et al., 2010), and interestingly, RhoA/ROCK-mediated cardiac hypertrophy is p38 MAPK-dependent (Zeidan et al., 2006; Zeidan et al., 2008), intimating p38 MAPK as a critical pathway involved in dysregulated metabolic and hypertrophic mechanisms. The gene discussed is STAT3; the disease is cardiac hypertrophy.