Studies on the oxidative stress mediated signaling cascades in diabetic nephropathy demonstrated that PKC isoforms (PKCα, PKCβ and PKCε), MAPKs (p38, JNK and ERK1/2), transcription factor (NF-κB) and TGF-β1 pathways were involved in this pathophysiology. The gene discussed is MAPK8; the disease is diabetic kidney disease.