title: The emerging multiple roles of nuclear Akt.
abstract: Akt is a central player in the signal transduction pathways activated in response to many growth factors, hormones, cytokines, and nutrients and is thought to control a myriad of cellular functions including proliferation and survival, autophagy, metabolism, angiogenesis, motility, and exocytosis. Moreover, dysregulated Akt activity is being implicated in the pathogenesis of a growing number of disorders, including cancer. Evidence accumulated over the past 15 years has highlighted the presence of active Akt in the nucleus, where it acts as a fundamental component of key signaling pathways. For example, nuclear Akt counteracts apoptosis through a block of caspase-activated DNase: deoxyribonuclease and inhibition of chromatin condensation, and is also involved in cell cycle progression control, cell differentiation, mRNA: messenger RNA export, DNA repair, and tumorigenesis. In this review, we shall summarize the most relevant findings about nuclear Akt and its functions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy. alberto.martelli@unibo.it
authors.forename: Alberto M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Martelli
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tabellini
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bressanin
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ognibene
authors.forename: Kaoru
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.forename: Lucio
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cocco
authors.forename: Camilla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Evangelisti
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt