Previous studies have demonstrated that the PERK-eIF2α-ATF4 axis, a key component of the unfolded protein response (UPR) activated during endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, is upregulated in ALI (Chen et al., 2019; Li et al., 2020; Xu et al., 2023). The gene discussed is EIF2AK3; the disease is acute respiratory distress syndrome.