AKT1 and hepatocellular carcinoma: Recently, we also furthered our work to delineate the molecular mechanism by which CD133+ liver CSCs drive HCC, and found CD133 to confer resistance to standard chemotherapy through an activated Akt and Bcl-2 survival pathway [2]; and to promote angiogenesis through a deregulated neurotensin / IL-8 signaling pathway [4].