MAPK14 and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: The airways in patients with COPD are remodeled with a thickened epithelium, lamina propria, and adventitia, with ASM hyperplasia and hypertrophy and deposition of collagen that might all contribute to the development of AHR.27,28 In the ozone model AHR is associated with the presence of increased isometric contractile responsiveness of the airways to acetylcholine,29 which was due to an increased activation of the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase.