Important roles of Akt/PKB signaling in the aging process.
The increased costs associated with an ever-growing aged population are expected to pose a significant burden on health care resources. From a biological standpoint, aging is an accelerated deteriorative process in tissue structure and function that is associated with higher morbidity and mortality. The Akt / protein kinase B (PKB) is a family of serine / threonine protein kinases, which play prominent roles in a diverse number of processes including cell survival, cell growth, gene expression, apoptosis, protein synthesis, energy metabolism and oncogenesis. It is likely that age-related changes in tissue structure and function are related to alterations in Akt expression and Akt-dependent signaling. Here we review the role that Akt may play in the aging process and attempt, where possible, to highlight how these data may lead to new directions of inquiry and clinical relevance to the aged.
Wu
Miaozong
M
Cell Differentiation and Development Center, Marshall University, Huntington, WV 25755 25755-1090, USA.
Wang
Bin
B
Fei
Jia
J
Santanam
Nalini
N
Blough
Eric R
ER
D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000503:physiopathology; D000818:Animals; D015870:Gene Expression; D055786:Gene Knockout Techniques; D006801:Humans; D009928:Organ Specificity; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000502:physiology; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction
D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt