PI3Ks have been linked to an extraordinarily diverse group of cellular functions, including cell growth, proliferation, differentiation, motility, survival and intracellular trafficking. Many of these functions relate to the ability of class I PI3Ks to activate
protein kinase B (PKB, aka Akt) as in the
PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. The
p110δ and
p110γ isoforms regulate different aspects of immune responses. PI3Ks are also a key component of the
insulin signaling pathway. Hence there is great interest in the role of PI3K signaling in
diabetes mellitus. PI3K is also involved in interleukin signalling (IL4)
Mechanism The
pleckstrin homology domain of
AKT binds directly to
PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 and
PtdIns(3,4)P2, which are produced by activated PI3Ks. Since PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 and PtdIns(3,4)P2 are restricted to the plasma membrane, this results in translocation of AKT to the plasma membrane. Likewise, the
phosphoinositide-dependent kinase-1 (PDK1 or, rarely referred to as PDPK1) also contains a pleckstrin homology domain that binds directly to PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 and PtdIns(3,4)P2, causing it to also translocate to the plasma membrane upon PI3K activation. The interaction of activated PDK1 and AKT allows AKT to become phosphorylated by PDK1 on threonine 308, leading to partial activation of AKT. Full activation of AKT occurs upon phosphorylation of serine 473 by the TORC2 complex of the
mTOR protein kinase. The
PI3K/AKT pathway has been shown to be required for an extremely diverse array of cellular activities - most notably cellular proliferation and survival. For example, it was shown to be involved in the protection of astrocytes from ceramide-induced apoptosis. Many other proteins have been identified that are regulated by PtdIns(3,4,5)P3, including
Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK), General Receptor for Phosphoinositides-1 (GRP1), and the
O-linked N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) transferase. PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 also activates guanine‐nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) that activate the GTPase Rac1, leading to
actin polymerization and cytoskeletal rearrangement.
Cancers The
class IA PI3K p110α is mutated in many cancers. Many of these mutations cause the kinase to be more active. It is the single most mutated kinase in
glioblastoma, the most malignant primary brain tumor. The PtdIns(3,4,5)
P3 phosphatase
PTEN that antagonises PI3K signaling is absent from many tumours. In addition, the epidermal growth factor receptor
EGFR that functions upstream of PI3K is mutationally activated or overexpressed in cancer. Hence, PI3K activity contributes significantly to
cellular transformation and the development of
cancer. It has been shown that malignant B cells maintain a "tonic" activity of PI3K/Akt axis via upregulation of an adaptor protein GAB1, and this also allows B cells to survive targeted therapy with BCR inhibitors.
Learning and memory PI3Ks have also been implicated in
long-term potentiation (LTP). Whether they are required for the expression or the induction of LTP is still debated. In mouse
hippocampal CA1 neurons, certain PI3Ks are complexed with
AMPA receptors and compartmentalized at the
postsynaptic density of
glutamatergic synapses. PI3Ks are phosphorylated upon
NMDA receptor-dependent
CaMKII activity, and it then facilitates the insertion of
AMPA-R GluR1 subunits into the plasma membrane. This suggests that PI3Ks are required for the expression of LTP. Furthermore, PI3K inhibitors abolished the expression of LTP in rat hippocampal CA1, but do not affect its induction. Notably, the dependence of late-phase LTP expression on PI3Ks seems to decrease over time. However, another study found that PI3K inhibitors suppressed the induction, but not the expression, of LTP in mouse hippocampal CA1. The
PI3K pathway also recruits many other proteins downstream, including
mTOR,
GSK3β, and
PSD-95. further suggesting that PI3Ks are required for the protein-synthesis phase of LTP induction instead. PI3Ks interact with the
insulin receptor substrate (IRS) to regulate glucose uptake through a series of phosphorylation events. ==PI 3-kinases as protein kinases==