MAPK8 and Myocardial fibrosis: TGF-β activates fibroblasts and promotes extracellular matrix production in diseased tissues, and its excessive deposition can mediate myocardial fibrosis.47 Here, we demonstrated that the phosphorylation of TGF-β, JNK, Smad3 and lysyl oxidase (Lox) in the 2-APQC + ISO group was lower than that in the ISO group (Fig. 3i).