title: Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3: A Kinase for All Pathways?
abstract: Glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) is an unusual protein-serine kinase in that it is primarily regulated by inhibition and lies downstream of multiple cell signaling pathways. This raises a variety of questions in terms of its physiological role(s), how signaling specificity is maintained and why so many eggs have been placed into one basket. There are actually two baskets, as there are two isoforms, GSK-3α and β, that are highly related and largely redundant. Their many substrates range from regulators of cellular metabolism to molecules that control growth and differentiation. In this chapter, we review the characteristics of GSK-3, update progress in understanding the kinase, and try to answer some of the questions raised by its unusual properties. Indeed, the kinase may trigger transformation in our thinking of how cellular signals are organized and controlled.
authors.affiliation: Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health System & University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Prital
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health System & University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. Electronic address: woodgett@lunenfeld.ca.
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Woodgett
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D038362:Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D007527:Isoenzymes; D038362:Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3
keywords: Alzheimer’s; Hedgehog; Insulin; Notch; Signal transduction; TGFbeta; Wnt