Interestingly, several recent studies have reported that although viral infection normally evokes SG formation through virus-induced activation of the eIF2α kinase PKR, the assembly of SGs can be severely compromised by virus-derived RNAs and proteins in cells infected with certain types of pathogenic viruses (for example, West-Nile virus, dengue virus, poliovirus, influenza A virus, human immunodeficiency virus type-1, human T-cell lymphotropic virus type-1, hepatitis C virus and so on)41, 42. Here, EIF2AK2 is linked to viral infectious disease.