In order to determine whether the p38 MAPKα-specific inhibitor, PAM, exhibits antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2, Vero cells (African green monkey kidney cells), human Caco-2 colon carcinoma-derived epithelial cells [39], A549 cells, which were generated from a human lung adenocarcinoma and stably express both the ACE2 receptor and transmembrane protease serine subtype 2 (TMPRSS2) [40], and Calu-3 human lung cells (the most extensively studied surrogate lung cell infection model that expresses ACE2 and TMPRSS2 endogenously [40]) were infected with SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan type (Figure 1). Here, TMPRSS2 is linked to colon carcinoma.