Some bacteria can induce EGR1 expression, such as Chlamydia pneumoniae, Helicobacter pylori, Neisseria meningitidis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Porphyromonas gingivalis, and Streptococcus intermedius (Abdel-Latif et al., 2004; Howie et al., 2005; Rupp et al., 2005; Schubert-Unkmeir et al., 2007; Maekawa et al., 2010; Susilowati et al., 2011). Some of these studies have identified ERK as an important signaling molecule, but additional information on the mechanisms underlying bacterial EGR1 induction and its role in virulence is very scarce.