Inhibition of AKT decreases cell growth and attenuates EMT in PTC cells. (A) MK2206 induced cell viability loss in PTC cells. PTC cells were incubated with different doses of MK2206 for 48 h, and cell viability was determined by the MTT assay (n = 6), * p < 0.05. (B) MK2206-mediated apoptosis in PTC cells. PTC cells were treated with the indicated doses of MK2206 for 48 h, were subsequently stained with fluorescein-conjugated annexin-V and propidium iodide, and analyzed by flow cytometry. Data presented by the bar graphs are the mean ± SD of three independent experiments (n = 3). * Indicates a statistically significant difference compared with control, with p < 0.05. (C,D) Inhibition of AKT reduced the markers of cell growth and EMT in PTC cells. PTC cells were treated with the indicated doses of MK2206 or transfected two different AKT siRNAs (100 nM) for 48 h. Cells were lysed, and equal amounts of proteins were immunoblotted with antibodies against pAKT, AKT, Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, caspase-3, cleaved caspase-3, PARP, E-cadherin, N-cadherin, Twist, Zeb1, and GAPDH (n = 3).