The inflammatory response in alveolar epithelial cells is thought to be predominantly mediated by the NFκB pathway [59]; however, inhibition of ERK or p38 activation in animal models of ALI commonly resulted in reduced inflammatory response, which implies that the MAPK signaling also largely contributes to the pathological process [58,62,63,64]. The gene discussed is NFKB1; the disease is acute respiratory distress syndrome.