PSMB8 and leukemia: PSMB8 plays an important role in promoting cell survival and progression of the leukemia through PSMB8-mediated PI3K/AKT pathway activation 23 and constitutive nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signaling, while NF-κB is constitutively active in leukemic stem cells (LSCs), but not in normal hematopoietic progenitor cells 24-26.