AKT1 and hepatocellular carcinoma: We recently reported that HSC-derived platelet-derived growth factor ββ (PDGF-ββ) stimulates the proliferation of HCC cells by activating the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway, while the inhibition of PDGF-ββ or PI3K/Akt pathways enhances apoptotic cell death, especially under hypoxic conditions [16].