MAPK8 and infection: Thus, it is easy to speculate that Lvc-Jun could be hijacked by the WSSV to promote expression of its own genes, such as IE1. To address this, we analyzed the expression level of IE1 during WSSV infection (at 8 hpi) under conditions that this pathway was inhibited or activated by treatment with a JNK pathway inhibitor SP600125 or activator 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-3-acetate (TPA), respectively.