“…Two classes of serine/ threonine kinases are known to act downstream of lipid PI 3-kinase, the serine/threonine kinase Akt, also known as protein kinase B (PKB), and the atypical PKC isoforms z and l (PKCz/l). Expression of Akt, mediated by activation of PI 3,4,5-triphoshate, is reported to induce the activation of the ribosomal protein S6 kinase (Downward, 1995), the inhibition of glycogen synthase kinase 3, and the inhibition of apoptotic cell responses (Ruderman et al, 1990;Li et al, 1999;BernalMizrachi et al, 2001). Bernal-Mizrachi et al (2001) and Tuttle et al (2001) suggest that PKB control B-cell size and growth.…”