PHLPP2 and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Earlier studies suggest the role of PHLPP2 in direct dephosphorylation and inactivation of Akt, which has multifunctional activities and is a potential regulator of various cellular processes involved in the pathogenesis of COPD (Bozinovski et al., 2006; Gao et al., 2009; Nowak et al., 2015).