Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3β in Formation and Treatment of Parkinson's Disease

Glycogen synthase kinase-3β(GSK-3β) was initially identified as an enzyme involved in glycogen metabolism.GSK-3β phosphorylates a variety of substrates of different biological activities to regulate cellular functions,such as proliferation,differentiation and apoptosis.In the research model of the Parkinson's disease,the increase of GSK-3β activity was recently found to induce neuron apoptosis.On the other hand,when the GSK-3β activity was inhibited,both the tau protein phosphorylation and α-synuclein expression were reduced,then led to neural protection.Therefore,GSK-3β may become a new target for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.