AKT1 and lung carcinoma: For instance, Lou et al[46] revealed that connexin 43 (Cx43)-formed unidirectional gap junctional intercellular communication mediates metabolic coupling between CAFs and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells, promoting NSCLC progression by activating the PI3K/Akt and MAPK/ERK pathways, thus underscoring the critical role of CAFs and gap junctional intercellular communication in lung cancer malignancy.