MDCK cells were treated with SB 203580 to study the role of MAPK signaling in inducing hypertonicity of cell membrane and potassium depletion.¹⁶ It was used to inhibit MAPK signaling in mouse cortical neurons¹⁷ and human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines.¹⁸

SB 203580 is a pyridinyl imidazole that suppresses the activation of MAPKAP kinase-2 and inhibits the phosphorylation of heat shock protein (HSP) 27 in response to IL-1, cellular stresses and bacterial endotoxin in vivo. It does not inhibit JNK or p42 MAP kinase and therefore, is useful for studying the physiological roles and targets of p38 MAPK and MAPKAP kinase-2. It has been shown to induce the activation of the serine/threonine kinase Raf-1 and has been reported to inhibit cytokine production.

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