disclosed herein is a species of peptide and non - peptide inhibitors of akt , an oncogenic protein . beginning with a residue of akt target substrate gsk - 3 , the functional domains of the gsk - 3 residue were characterized . functionally homologous non - peptide groups were substituted for the amino acids of the gsk - 3 creating a hybrid peptide - non - peptide and non - peptide compounds capable of binding to akt . the non - peptide compounds show increased stability and rigidity compared to peptide counterparts and are less susceptible to degradation . the bound non - peptide compounds exhibit an inhibitory effect on akt , similar to peptide - based akt inhibitors .