Characterised cellular mechanisms exploited by coronavirus infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) to regulate the induction of two pro-inflammatory cytokines, interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8, at the transcriptional level.IBV modulates the infection by inducing the expression of dual-specificity phosphatase 1 (DUSP1), a negative regulator of the p38 MAPK, in order to limit the production of an excessive amount of IL-6 and IL-8 in the infected cells.DUSP1 and p38 MAPK are possible therapeutic targets for IBV. The gene discussed is CXCL8; the disease is infection.