text: Besides anchoring cells to the ECM, laminins are also involved in the signalling of cells and other components of the ECM. Even though there is not a general mechanism that applies to all laminins in signalling, there are some common pathways that can be seen in more than one isoform of laminin. For example, the PI3K/AKT pathway is used by laminin-111 (promotes cell-survival), 511 (prevents apoptosis with laminin 521), and 521 (stabilizes pluripotency of human embryonic stem cells). The pathway begins with the adhesion of the cell to the ECM for activation of the lipid-associated PI3K. Once PI3K is activated, it will localize AKT that is in the cytoplasm to the cell membrane where AKT is then phosphorylated to promote cell survival.