Akt2

The serine/threonine kinase Akt family contains several members, including Akt1 (also designated PKB or RacPK), Akt2 (also designated PKBβ or RacPK-β) and Akt 3 (also designated PKBγ or thyoma viral proto-oncogene 3), which exhibit sequence homology with the protein kinase A and C families and are encoded by the c-Akt proto-oncogene. All members of the Akt family have a Pleckstrin homology domain. Akt1 and Akt2 are activated by PDGF stimulation that is dependent on PDGFR-β tyrosine residues 740 and 751, which bind the subunit of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) complex. Akt proteins become phosphorylated and activated in Insulin/IGF-I-stimulated cells by an upstream kinase, and the activation of Akt1 and Akt2 is inhibited by the PI kinase inhibitor wortmannin. Taken together, this data strongly suggests that the protein signals downstream of the PI kinases.