Calcium- and diacylglycerol-independent serine/ threonine-protein kinase that plays a general protective role against apoptotic stimuli, is involved in NF-kappa-B activation, cell survival, differentiation and polarity, and contributes to the regulation of microtubule dynamics in the early secretory pathway. Is necessary for BCR-ABL oncogene-mediated resistance to apoptotic drug in leukemia cells, protecting leukemia cells against drug-induced apoptosis. In cultured neurons, prevents amyloid beta protein-induced apoptosis by interrupting cell death process at a very early step. In glioblastoma cells, may function downstream of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and PDPK1 in the promotion of cell survival by phosphorylating and inhibiting the pro-apoptotic factor BAD. Can form a protein complex in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells with PARD6A and ECT2 and regulate ECT2 oncogenic activity by phosphorylation, which in turn promotes transformed growth and invasion. In response to nerve growth factor (NGF