The results for both the hyper-invasive (ID: 341215 and 340542) and hypo-invasive (ID: 130803 and 360624) N. meningitidis isolates infection demonstrated that E2 effectively suppressed the activated-MAPK pathway, as evaluated by its downstream signaling molecules, including p-ERK, p-JNK and p-P38, in both HBMECs and MECs (Figure 3). This evidence concerns the gene MAPK8 and infection.