AKT1 and cancer: Although silencing Snail increased 4E-BP1 expression (Fig. 2c), it is likely to be that a large fraction of 4E-BP1 in cancer cells is hyperphosphorylated by oncogenic PI3K/AKT and RAS/ERK signaling17,29; the ability of 4E-BP1 to repress cap-dependent translation is compromised when in the phosphorylated state3,5,17,29,30.