The critical initial steps in insulin action include phosphorylation of adapter proteins and activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K). One of important components in this process is a protein called Akt/protein kinase B (PKB). The work of numerous different researchers indicates a role of PKB in regulating insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. The crucial role of lipid second messengers ...

Objective: Abnormal expression of the hepatic gluconeogenic genes (glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK)) contributes to hyperglycemia. These genes are repressed by insulin but this process is defective in diabetes. Protein kinase B (PKB) is implicated in this action of insulin. An inhibitor of PKB, termed Akti-1/2, was recently reported, however the speci...

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) are considered potential tools or targets for immunotherapy. However, current knowledge concerning methodologies to manipulate their development or function remains limited. Here, we investigated the role of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)–protein kinase B (PKB)–mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) axis in human pDC development, survival, and functio...

Stimulation of PI-3 kinase (PI3K)-protein kinase B (PKB) signal transduction pathway has been linked to the neuromodulatory action of angiotensin II (Ang II) in the brain neurons of the spontaneously hypertensive rat (Yang and Raizada J Neurosci 19:2413-2423,1999). The cellular consequences of this signaling pathway, however, remain unknown in the brain neurons from the normotensive rat. The pr...

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE Preeclampsia is a multi-systemic disease and one of the most frequent severe health problems during pregnancy. Binding of insulin triggers phosphorylation and activates cytoplasmic substrates such as phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K). Phosphorylation of membrane phosphoinositide 2 (PIP2) to phosphoinositide 3 (PIP3) by PI3K starts Akt/PKB activation. Defects in phosphor...

Stimulation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-protein kinase B (PKB) signal transduction pathway has been linked to the neuromodulatory action of ANG II in the brain neurons of the spontaneously hypertensive rat (Yang H and Raizada MK. J Neurosci 19: 2413-2423, 1999). The cellular consequences of this signaling pathway, however, remain unknown in the brain neurons from the normotensiv...

Deregulation of Akt/protein kinase B (PKB) is implicated in the pathogenesis of cancer and diabetes. Akt/PKB activation requires the phosphorylation of Thr308 in the activation loop by the phosphoinositide-dependent kinase 1 (PDK1) and Ser473 within the carboxyl-terminal hydrophobic motif by an unknown kinase. We show that in Drosophila and human cells the target of rapamycin (TOR) kinase and i...

PURPOSE This study assessed whether putative effectors of phosphatidylinositol3-kinase, including PTEN, protein kinase B (PKB), and p27(kip1), correlate with each other, with glioma histology, and with patient outcome. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Components of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signaling cascade were characterized in 25 glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) tumors, 8 grade II oligoastrocytoma...

Albumin in the glomerular filtrate is normally retrieved by concerted efforts of clathrin, LDL-type receptor megalin- and clathrin-associated sorting proteins. In glomerular diseases, albumin overload triggers a proapoptotic and inflammatory response contributing to tubulointerstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy. The relationship between albumin overload-induced proximal tubule injury and albu...

The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-Akt/protein kinase B (PKB) survival signaling is very important for cancer cell survival and growth. Constitutively active phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-Akt/PKB signaling in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a major factor for the survival of SCLC cells. Inhibitors of this signaling pathway would be potential antitumor agents, particularly for SCLC. Here we repo...