A multidisciplinary team led by Dr. Ángel R. Nebreda, Dr. María J. Macías and Dr. Modesto Orozco, all at IRB Barcelona, has developed a new type of p38 inhibitor, which preferentially impairs one of the activation pathways of this protein. In particular, these inhibitors block the self-activation (or autophosphorylation) of p38 but allow it to continue to be activated by other mechanisms.