To further investigate the mechanisms underlying the apoptosis resistance in parasitized cells, we first determined whether L. infantum infection was able to activate the Akt signaling pathway and inhibit caspase-3 cleavage in our infection model, using tunicamycin (an inhibitor of N-glycosylation) as ER stressor and inducer of apoptosis. The gene discussed is CASP3; the disease is infection.