Reduced GSK-3β mRNA levels in postmortem dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of schizophrenic patients

N. Kozlovsky, C. Shanon-Weickert, E. Tomaskovic-Crook, J. E. Kleinman, R. H. Belmaker, G. Agam

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

80 Scopus citations

Abstract

Glycogen Synthase Kinase (GSK)-3 is a ubiquitous serine/threonine protein kinase highly abundant in brain which plays a key role in neural development and neuron survival. We have previously reported that GSK-3β protein levels and GSK-3 activity are reduced by over 40% in postmortem prefrontal cortex of schizophrenic patients compared to patients with bipolar illness, unipolar depression and to normal controls, and Emamian et al. have recently presented convergent evidence for impaired AKT1-GSK-3β signaling in schizophrenia. Using specimens of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex tissue obtained from The Stanley Medical Research Institute's Brain Collection, from the same subjects used previously, we now show that GSK-3β, but not GSK-3α, mRNA levels are 36% lower in the patients with schizophrenia compared to all other comparison groups. The present study lends further support to the finding of low GSK-3β levels in schizophrenia and extends this observation by suggesting that the decrease in GSK-3β may be due to reduced protein synthesis possibly due to altered transcriptional drive of the GSK-3β gene.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1583-1592
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Neural Transmission
Volume111
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2004
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Glycogen Synthase Kinase (GSK)-3
  • Schizophrenia
  • mRNA

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Neurology
  • Clinical Neurology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health
  • Biological Psychiatry

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