Downstream of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase, a multifunctional signaling molecule, and its regulation in cell responses.

Phosphatidylinositol (PI)-3 kinase is an enzyme that phosphorylates the D-3 position of PI and its derivatives. It is activated immediately after growth factor or differentiation factor stimulation, suggesting that PI-3 kinase is involved in signal transduction of the stimulation. PI-3 kinase appears to play various important roles including signaling to the nucleus, vesicle transport, and rearrangement of the cytoskeleton since many cell responses which require these events are affected by inhibition or activation of PI-3 kinase. To understand how PI-3 kinase can act in such multiple ways, it is important to identify the factors downstream of PI-3 kinase. In this review, we discuss the factors downstream of PI-3 kinase and the methods used to identify them. Recent studies revealed that some proteins involved in vesicle transport or in rearrangement of the cytoskeleton are regulated by the phospholipids generated by PI-3 kinase, implying the mechanism by which PI-3 kinase regulates these cell responses.