In addition, contribution of ERK and Akt signaling pathways was subsequently confirmed by the results that the neurite outgrowth promoting effect of ECa 233 was abolished by specific inhibitors of MEK (PD098059) or PI3K (LY294002) suggesting that ECa 233 promoted neurite outgrowth in human neuroblastoma IMR-32 cells via MEK/ERK and PI3K/Akt-dependent mechanisms. The gene discussed is AKT1; the disease is neuroblastoma.