AKT1

Jamshed Arslan, Pharm D, PhD

By Jamshed Arslan, Pharm. D., PhD.

By Jamshed Arslan Pharm.D., PhD.

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is an important oncogenic transcriptional factor that mediates tumor induced immune suppression.  Specifically, STAT3 transmits signals from cytokines and growth factor receptors in the plasma membrane (PM) to the nucleus, where they alter gene transcription.  Because of this transcriptional regulatory role, STAT3 also plays a part in regulating transcription of many critical genes that are involved in apoptosis, cell differentiation, immune response, tumor formation and more.  Using a

Similar to other cell processes, the balance between cell survival and cell death is an important equilibrium that when altered expression of genes can lead to a variety of disease.

AKT1 is a serine/threonine protein kinase with homology to protein kinase A (PKA) and protein kinase C (PKC). AKT1 contains the central kinase domain sandwiched between a pleckstrin homology domain and a regulatory domain (1). AKT1 is regulated by receptor tyrosine kinase pathways and is activated in a PI3K-dependent manner following growth factor stimulation (1).

Akt1 is one of three isoforms of Akt belonging to the AGC family of serine/threonine kinases (Akt1, Akt2, and Akt3). All Akt isoforms contain an N-terminal Plekstrin Homology (PH) domain, a C-terminal regulatory domain, and a central catalytic kinase domain (1). Akt is a major downstream target of the PI3-K signaling pathway. The Akt1 isoform is fully activated by phosphorylation at three sites- T308, T450, and S473. Akt1 resides in an inactive state due to intramolecular interactions between the PH domain and the kinase domain.

Akt1 is a serine/threonine-specific protein kinase involved in many cellular signaling pathways. The major function of this kinase is to mediate cell survival, but it also plays key roles in various other cellular functions such as glycogen synthesis and cell growth. Akt1 acts as a transducer for growth factor receptors that modulate phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) activity. Akt is believed to be a factor in cancer as the tumor suppressor phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) was found to antagonize both PI-3 kinase and Akt kinase activity.

Caspase 9 (also termed ICE-LAP6, Mch6, Apaf-3) is a member of cysteine protease family of caspases and is encoded by the CASP9 gene in humans. Caspase-9 is involved in mitochondrial apoptosis pathway and is an initiator caspase.

The protein encoded by mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin), also known as dTOR in Drosophila, belongs to a family of phosphatidylinositol kinase-related kinases. These kinases regulate fundamental processes of cell growth, proliferation, metabolism