Protein kinase B (PKB), also known as Akt, is the collective name of a set of three serine/threonine-specific protein kinases that play key roles in multiple cellular processes such as glucose metabolism, apoptosis, cell proliferation, transcription, and cell migration. There are three different genes that encode isoforms of Protein kinase B. These three genes are referred to as AKT1, AKT2, and AKT3 and encode the RAC alpha, beta, and gamma serine/threonine protein kinases respectively. The terms PKB and Akt may refer to the products of all three genes collectively, but sometimes are used to refer to PKB alpha and Akt1 alone. Akt1 is involved in cellular survival pathways, by inhibiting apoptotic processes. Akt1 is also able to induce protein synthesis pathways, and is therefore a key signaling protein in the cellular pathways that lead to skeletal muscle hypertrophy and general tissue growth. Akt2 is an important signaling molecule in the insulin signaling pathway. It is required to induce glucose transport. The role of Akt3 is less clear, though it appears to be predominantly expressed in the brain. Here you can see a classical crystal structure of bovine Akt in complex with a synthetic inhibitor (PDB code: 2UZU)

#immolecular ... #molecularart ... #kinase ... #akt ... #inhibitor ... #crystal ... #xray

Structure rendered with @proteinimaging and depicted with @corelphotopaint