title: Lithium potentiates GSK-3β activity by inhibiting phosphoinositide 3-kinase-mediated Akt phosphorylation.
abstract: Accumulating evidence has pointed to the direct inhibitory action of lithium, an anti-depressant, on GSK-3β. The present study investigated further insight into lithium signaling pathways. In the cell-free assay Li2CO3 significantly inhibited phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)-mediated phosphorylation of Akt1 at Ser473, but Li2CO3 did not affect PI3K-mediated PI(3,4,5)P3 production and 3-phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase 1 (PDK1)-mediated phosphorylation of Akt1 at Thr308. This indicates that lithium could enhance GSK-3β activity by suppressing Akt-mediated Ser9 phosphorylation of GSK-3β in association with inhibition of PI3K-mediated Akt activation. There was no direct effect of Li2CO3 on Akt1-induced phosphorylation of GSK-3β at Ser9, but otherwise Li2CO3 significantly reduced GSK-3β-mediated phosphorylation of β-catenin at Ser33/37 and Thr41. This indicates that lithium directly inhibits GSK-3β in an Akt-independent manner. In rat hippocampal slices Li2CO3 significantly inhibited phosphorylation of Akt1/2 at Ser473/474, GSK-3β at Ser9, and β-catenin at Ser33/37 and Thr41. Taken together, these results indicate that lithium exerts its potentiating and inhibiting bidirectional actions on GSK-3β activity.
authors.affiliation: Division of Bioinformation, Department of Physiology, Hyogo College of Medicine, 1-1 Mukogawa-cho, Nishinomiya 663-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Nie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Division of Bioinformation, Department of Physiology, Hyogo College of Medicine, 1-1 Mukogawa-cho, Nishinomiya 663-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kanno
authors.affiliation: Division of Bioinformation, Department of Physiology, Hyogo College of Medicine, 1-1 Mukogawa-cho, Nishinomiya 663-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Division of Bioinformation, Department of Physiology, Hyogo College of Medicine, 1-1 Mukogawa-cho, Nishinomiya 663-8501, Japan. Electronic address: tomoyuki@hyo-med.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Tomoyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nishizaki
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D038362:Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 / Q000378:metabolism*; D000071679:Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 beta; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D016651:Lithium Carbonate / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D051058:Oncogene Protein v-akt / Q000378:metabolism*; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D010766:Phosphorylation / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D016651:Lithium Carbonate; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D000071679:Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 beta; C000605508:Gsk3b protein, rat; D051058:Oncogene Protein v-akt; D038362:Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3
keywords: Akt; GSK-3β; Lithium; Phosphoinositide 3-kinase; β-Catenin