The mammalian p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) family is composed 
of four members (p38α, p38β, p38γ, and p38δ), which are very similar in amino 
acid sequence but differ in their expression patterns. This suggests that they 
may have specific functions in different organs. In the last years most of the 
effort has been centred on the study of the function of the p38α isoform, which 
is widely referred to as p38 in the literature. However, the role that other p38 
isoforms play in cellular functions and their implication in some of the 
pathological conditions have not been precisely defined so far. In this paper we 
highlight recent advances made in defining the functions of the two less studied 
alternative p38MAPKs, p38γ and p38δ. We describe that these p38MAPKs show 
similarities to the classical p38α isoform, although they may play central and 
distinct role in certain physiological and pathological processes.