Western blot showing the levels of pAKT (Ser473), total Akt, pErk1/2 (T202/Y204) and total Erk1/2 after treatment with 1 µM PPP or 50 ng/ml IGF1 for 60 min. Protein was normalised to GAPDH. Western blot quantification. PMN treated with PPP showed a significant decrease in Akt activation (* P=0.049, N=5 independent experiments, Student's T-test), but no significant difference was seen on Erk1/2 activation (P=0.07, Student's T-test, N=5 independent experiments). 50 ng/ml IGF1 treated neurons showed a significant increase in Akt activation (** P=0.008, Student's T-test, N=3 independent experiments). In contrast, no change in Erk1/2 activation (P=0.88, Student's T-test, N=3 independent experiments) was observed (data shown are mean ± SEM). 