Moreover, COPD patients have been observed exhibit both upregulated activity and phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) (Eurlings et al. 2017); knockdown of HSP72 has been reported to elevate the activity and phosphorylation of JNK (Kitano et al. 2019), which may represent a potential mechanism by which HSP72 protects against inflammatory injury in the lung. Here, MAPK8 is linked to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.