AKT”ing lessons for stem cells: regulation of cardiac myocyte and progenitor cell proliferation. Trends Cardiovasc Med 2007:235–40

Cardiac development and postnatal growth depend upon activation of AKT, but initial strategies to improve myocardial repair utilizing AKT were stymied by undesirable corollary alterations in myocardial structure and function. These unfortunate precedents were based upon high level expression of constitutively activated AKT, predominantly in the cytoplasm of the cell. Based upon subsequent studies establishing that activated AKT accumulates in the nucleus we reasoned that the location of AKT, not simply the activity level, would be a critical determinant of the phenotypic outcome resulting from AKT activation. Using myocardial–specific expression of nuclear-targeted AKT (AKT/nuc), the proliferation of myocardial stem and progenitor cell populations is enhanced, casting new light upon the implementation of AKT activity as a molecular interventional approach for treatment of cardiomyopathic damage resulting from acute injury, chronic stress, or the debilitating changes of aging. AKT properties: a multifunctional player in cardiomyocytes and the myocardium. Ask a dozen cardiovascular researchers what they find most intriguing about AKT signaling and you're likely to get a dozen different responses. Whether studying cell survival, growth