Figure 8. A working hypothesis for ecdysteroid action on mammalian cells: a stimulation of the Akt/PKB pathway would explain a large set of the described effects of 20E on mammals (see text for details). Bad: a proapoptotic factor, which is inhibited upon phosphorylation by Akt; Glut4: glucose transporter type 4; GSK3: glycogen synthase kinase-3; IL3: interleukin-3; INS: insulin; S6K: ribosomal protein S6-kinase.