STAT3 and bacterial infectious disease: Additionally, the absence of an additive effect of p38MAPK and STAT3 inhibition on iNOS transcription and bacterial infection, along with our previous observation that inhibiting p38 MAPK decreased STAT3 activation but not vice versa (Figures 3C, F) re-enforces the possibility of a unidirectional positive regulatory loop between p38 MAPK and STAT3 in infected senescent cells.