STAT3 and cardiac hypertrophy: According to Aoki et al. (Brancaccio et al., 2006; Vallentin and Mochly-Rosen, 2007; Ruppert and Meyer, 2007; O'Rourke et al., 1994), activation of MAPK/ERK and STAT3 can induce increased expression of atrial natriuretic peptide mRNA and protein, resulting in symptoms of cardiac hypertrophy.