Research Paper Volume 2, Issue 10 pp 678—690

Figure 6. A conserved insulin signaling pathway in C. elegans regulates numerous functions including stress response, metabolism, dauer formation, and reproductive development by restricting the nuclear localization of the DAF-16/FoxO transcription factor upon nutrient availability [45]. Upon ligand binding (top panel), the insulin-like receptor DAF-2 activates the AGE-1 PI3 kinase that facilitates the activation of PDK-1 and AKT-1. AKT-1-mediated phosphorylation sequesters DAF-16 in the cytoplasm. In the absence of PI3K/AKT signaling (bottom panel) DAF-16 enters the nucleus and regulates the expression of target genes to mediate numerous DAF-16 dependent processes, including those listed.