NFKB1 and infection: These data would seem to agree with the literature data that reported, in an oral epithelial cell model of infection with C. albicans, the activation of PI3K/Akt signaling in addition to MAPK and NF-kB signaling, as the major epithelial response pathways against this fungus, playing a key role in protecting epithelial cells from C. albicans-induced damage.