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Science 28 August 2009:
Vol. 325. no. 5944, pp. 1083 - 1084
DOI: 10.1126/science.1179972
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Perspectives

Cell Signaling:

Blocking Akt-ivity

David F. Restuccia and Brian A. Hemmings

Aberrations in cellular signaling pathways that involve the enzyme Akt (also called protein kinase B) are implicated in diverse diseases, including cancer, diabetes, and neurodegenerative disorders (1, 2). Thus, proteins involved in Akt activation and signaling are potential targets for therapeutic intervention. In fact, drugs directed against some of these targets are now in clinical trials for treating cancers, and the inhibition of Akt activation and signaling remains a major goal of drug discovery (3, 4). On page 1134 of this issue, Yang et al. (5) identify a chemical modification of Akt that controls its activation, identifying another potential means to inhibit this kinase in human cancers.

Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Maulbeerstrasse 66, CH-4058 Basel, Switzerland.

E-mail: hemmings{at}fmi.ch

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)