Akt, protein kinase B (PKB), is a serine/threonine kinase, which is involved in many cellular signaling pathways and acts as a transducer of many functions initiated by growth factor receptors that activate phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase). Akt2 is amplified and overexpressed in some human cancers. AKT2 encodes a RAC/AKT-type protein kinase that contains a N-terminal pleckstrin-homology (PH) domain and a central catalytic domain closely related to both cAMP-dependent protein kinase and protein kinase C. The protein is a member of PI3K-mediated signalling pathways associated with the regulation of proliferation, survival, protein synthesis, and metabolism. It is activated by a variety of growth factors. AKT2 has been shown to be transcriptionally regulated by MyoD and to activate MyoD-myocyte enhancer binding factor-2 (MEF2) transactivation activity during muscle differentiation. Glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK-3) also has been shown to be a downstream target of AKT2. The AKT2 gene is one of the human homologues of v-akt, the transduced oncogene of the AKT8 virus, which induces lymphomas in mice. It has been implicated in breast, ovarian, and pancreatic cancers.Synonyms: Protein kinase Akt-2, Protein kinase B beta, RAC-PK-beta, RAC-beta serine/threonine-protein kinase