MAPK14 and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Interestingly, the inhibition of p38 prevents motor neuron death in an in vitro familial model of ALS (Dewil et al., 2007), and we and others have proven that VEGF can suppress p38 activation in both familial (Tolosa et al., 2009) and excitotoxic (Tovar-Y-Romo and Tapia, 2010) models of spinal cord neurodegeneration.