UC Riverside

Regulation of cell fate decisions, such as the decision to self-renew or to differentiate along a certain lineage, is critical during embryonic development and adult life. During embryogenesis, these decisions are critical and are very tightly controlled processes that involve input from a variety of signals, from the extracellular environment to the intracellular nutrient availability. This review will focus on AKT and CTNNB1 and the roles they play in promoting proliferation, differentiation, survival, and energy production. Due to the complexity of these processes, a number of other signaling families will also be discussed, including the Forkhead Box O (FOXO) protein, the mammalian Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) complexes, and the AMP-regulated kinase (AMPK).