Hi Vivo, Very good question, there are quite a few studies...

Hi Vivo,

Very good question, there are quite a few studies published one of which as per below which suggests some viral infections including Influenza proliferate via cell AKT pathway activation. Good news for us PTX'er is PTX-200 blocks AKT activation. Question is does COVID-19 (SARS-COV-2) activate AKT pathway and or RAS pathway (PTX-100) for that matter for viral proliferation? We'll know soon enough when Doherty Institute have finished lab testing PTX assets against COVID-19, but as you said if any signs of efficacy could very well open up a massive new market for Prescient indeed!

The pivotal role of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-Akt signal transduction in virus survival: -

Over the course of evolution, viruses have developed the ability to modulate a variety of host cell signalling pathways. Inhibition of apoptosis, in particular, has become recognized as an important contributory factor in virus survival. Apoptotic inhibition contributes to the establishment of latent and chronic infections and has been implicated in viral oncogenesis. The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-Akt pathway is utilized by many cell types for inhibition of apoptosis and cellular survival. Virus modulation of this pathway provides an alternative to the expression of viral oncogenes or the direct inhibition of pro-apoptotic proteins. It has become evident that many viruses require up-regulation of this pathway to sustain long-term infections and it is modulated, in some cases, by specific viral products to create an environment favourable for cellular transformation. In other cases, PI3K-Akt signalling simply helps to create an environment favourable for virus replication and virion assembly. This review details the modulation and function of PI3K-Akt signalling for virus survival.