FOXO Reporter Kit
PI3K/AKT Pathway
Catalog #: 60643

Background: 
The PI3K/AKT signaling pathway is essential for cell growth and survival. Disruption of
this pathway or its regulation has been linked to a variety of cancers and coronary
diseases. Mammalian FOXO protein (FOXO1, FOXO3, FOXO4), a subgroup of
Forkhead transcription factors, is among the best characterized targets of the PI3K/AKT
signaling pathway. These transcription factors function as a trigger for apoptosis by upregulating
genes necessary for cell death. Insulin or growth factors induce activation of
PI3K, which in turn activates AKT. AKT directly phosphorylates FOXOs, resulting in the
export of FOXOs from the nucleus to the cytoplasm, thereby inhibiting FOXO-dependent
transcription.

Description: The FOXO Reporter kit is designed for monitoring the activity of the PI3K/AKT signaling
pathway and the transcriptional activity of FOXO proteins in cultured cells. The kit
contains the transfection-ready FOXO3 expression vector and the FOXO luciferase
reporter vector, which is a PI3K/Akt pathway-responsive reporter. This reporter contains
the firefly luciferase gene under the control of multimers of the FOXO responsive
element located upstream of a minimal promoter. The FOXO reporter is premixed with a
constitutively-expressing sea pansy (Renilla) luciferase vector, which serves as an
internal control for the transfection efficiency.
The kit also includes a non-inducible firefly luciferase vector premixed with constitutivelyexpressing
Renilla luciferase vector as negative control. The non-inducible luciferase
vector also contains the firefly luciferase gene under the control of a minimal promoter,
but without any additional response elements. The negative control is critical to
determining pathway-specific effects and background luciferase activity.

Components:

*These vectors are ready for transient transfection. They are NOT SUITABLE for
transformation and amplification in bacteria.

References:
1. Essaghir, A., et al. (2009) The transcription of FOXO genes is stimulated by FOXO3 and
repressed by growth factors. J. Biol. Chem. 284(16):10334-10342
2. Hennessy B.T., et al. (2005) Exploiting the PI3K/AKT pathway for cancer drug discovery.
Nat. Rev. Drug Discov. 4(12):988-1004.