AKT2, also known as RAC-beta serine/threonine-protein kinase,
is an
enzyme
An enzyme () is a protein that acts as a biological catalyst by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different mol ...
that in humans is encoded by the ''AKT2''
gene
In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...
.
It influences metabolite storage as part of the
insulin signal transduction pathway.
Function
This gene is a putative
oncogene
An oncogene is a gene that has the potential to cause cancer. In tumor cells, these genes are often mutated, or expressed at high levels. encoding a protein belonging to the
AKT subfamily of
serine/threonine kinases
A serine/threonine protein kinase () is a kinase enzyme, in particular a protein kinase, that phosphorylates the OH group of the amino-acid residues serine or threonine, which have similar side chains. At least 350 of the 500+ human prote ...
that contain
SH2-like (Src homology 2-like) domains. The encoded protein is a general protein kinase capable of phosphorylating several known proteins.
AKT2 has important roles in controlling
glycogenesis
Glycogenesis is the process of glycogen synthesis or the process of converting glucose into glycogen in which glucose molecules are added to chains of glycogen for storage. This process is activated during rest periods following the Cori cycl ...
,
gluconeogenesis
Gluconeogenesis (GNG) is a metabolic pathway that results in the biosynthesis of glucose from certain non-carbohydrate carbon substrates. It is a ubiquitous process, present in plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, and other microorganisms. In verte ...
, and
glucose transport as part of the
insulin signal transduction pathway.
Clinical significance
The gene was shown to be amplified and overexpressed in 2 of 8 ovarian carcinoma cell lines and 2 of 15 primary
ovarian tumor
Ovarian tumors, or ovarian neoplasms, are tumors in the ovary. Not all are ovarian cancer. They consist of mainly solid tissue, while ovarian cysts contain fluid.
In 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) divided ovarian tumours as 90% epithe ...
s. Overexpression contributes to the malignant phenotype of a subset of human ductal
pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...
s.
Mice lacking Akt2 have a normal body mass, but display a profound diabetic phenotype, indicating that Akt2 plays a key role in
signal transduction
Signal transduction is the process by which a chemical or physical signal is transmitted through a cell as a biochemical cascade, series of molecular events. Proteins responsible for detecting stimuli are generally termed receptor (biology), rece ...
downstream of the
insulin receptor
The insulin receptor (IR) is a transmembrane receptor that is activated by insulin, IGF-I, IGF-II and belongs to the large class of receptor tyrosine kinase. Metabolically, the insulin receptor plays a key role in the regulation of glucose h ...
. Mice lacking Akt2 show worse outcome in
breast cancer
Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...
initiated by the
large T antigen
The large tumor antigen (also called the large T-antigen and abbreviated LTag or LT) is a protein encoded in the genomes of polyomaviruses, which are small double-stranded DNA viruses. LTag is gene expression, expressed early in the infectious cycl ...
as well as the
neu oncogene.
Interactions
AKT2 has been shown to
interact with:
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APPL1,
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SH3RF1 and
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TCL1A.
References
Further reading
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External links
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{{Portal bar, Biology, border=no
EC 2.7.11
Protein kinases