Generally, CSC, which contains the majority of harmful tobacco constituents, induces activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway (Yang et al., 2009), which are the major signaling components involved in COPD pathogenesis (Geraghty et al., 2014). The gene discussed is AKT1; the disease is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.