AKT1 and non-small cell lung carcinoma: Moreover, the increased Postn expression in the NSCLC A549 cells is one form of cellular response to chemical-mimic hypoxia stress, and this effect can be controlled by hypoxia-inducible growth factors like TGF-α and bFGF, which trigger the RTK/PI3-K pathway leading to upregulation of Postn, and in turn, facilitating the survival of A549 cells in a hypoxic microenvironment via the Akt/PKB pathway (89).