PTEN and colorectal carcinoma: Finally, the same results were observed at the protein level in PTEN, while AKT did not show evident changes at protein level; however, we observed a direct correlation between mir-26a expression and p-AKT (Thr308)—the active state of AKT—in both cell lines (Fig. 4b), indicating that mir-26a affects PTEN expression and AKT activity in CRC cells.