In proliferative podocytopathies such as idiopathic collapsing focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (cFSGS) and HIV-associated nephropathy (HIVAN), we and others have shown that inappropriate upregulation of cell cycle regulatory proteins, such as human telomerase (hTERT) and anillin (ANLN), drive podocyte proliferation, in part, through hyperactivation of PI3K/AKT signaling (17, 18). Here, AKT1 is linked to HIV-associated nephropathy.