Figure 2.

Schematic representation (on the left side) of PLC activation which hydrolyses PIP₂ into DAG and IP₃. These last two are intermediate second messengers that can regulate many cell functions such as proliferation, differentiation, signal transduction and gene expression. On the right side, ligand binding to membrane receptor drives PI3K activation and consequent phosphorylation of PIP₂ into PIP₃ and subsequent activation of the AKT/mTOR pathway. These activated players can as well regulate many cell functions such as proliferation, differentiation, signal transduction and gene expression. PIP₃ can be dephosphorylated to PIP₂ by phosphatases such as PTEN and SHIP1. Many intermediate players are omitted for figure clarity.