The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-AKT pathway in humancancer

Abstract

One signal that is overactivated in a wide range of tumour types is the production of a phospholipid, phosphatidylinositol (3, 4, 5) trisphosphate, by phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K).This lipid and the protein kinase that is activated by it-AKT-trigger a cascade of responses, from cell growth and proliferation to survival and motility, that drive tumour progression. Small-molecule therapeutics that block PI3K signalling might deal a severe blow to cancer cells byblocking many aspects of the tumour-cell phenotype. © 2002 Nature Publishing Group.