TY - JOUR
T1 - Glycogen synthase kinase-3 inhibitors
T2 - Rescuers of cognitive impairments
AU - King, Margaret K.
AU - Pardo, Marta
AU - Cheng, Yuyan
AU - Downey, Kimberlee
AU - Jope, Richard S.
AU - Beurel, Eléonore
N1 - Funding Information:
Research in the authors' laboratories was supported by grants from the NIMH ( MH038752 , MH090236 , MH095380 ).
PY - 2014/1
Y1 - 2014/1
N2 - Impairment of cognitive processes is a devastating outcome of many diseases, injuries, and drugs affecting the central nervous system (CNS). Most often, very little can be done by available therapeutic interventions to improve cognitive functions. Here we review evidence that inhibition of glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3) ameliorates cognitive deficits in a wide variety of animal models of CNS diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Fragile X syndrome, Down syndrome, Parkinson's disease, spinocerebellar ataxia type 1, traumatic brain injury, and others. GSK3 inhibitors also improve cognition following impairments caused by therapeutic interventions, such as cranial irradiation for brain tumors. These findings demonstrate that GSK3 inhibitors are able to ameliorate cognitive impairments caused by a diverse array of diseases, injury, and treatments. The improvements in impaired cognition instilled by administration of GSK3 inhibitors appear to involve a variety of different mechanisms, such as supporting long-term potentiation and diminishing long-term depression, promotion of neurogenesis, reduction of inflammation, and increasing a number of neuroprotective mechanisms. The potential for GSK3 inhibitors to repair cognitive deficits associated with many conditions warrants further investigation of their potential for therapeutic interventions, particularly considering the current dearth of treatments available to reduce loss of cognitive functions.
AB - Impairment of cognitive processes is a devastating outcome of many diseases, injuries, and drugs affecting the central nervous system (CNS). Most often, very little can be done by available therapeutic interventions to improve cognitive functions. Here we review evidence that inhibition of glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3) ameliorates cognitive deficits in a wide variety of animal models of CNS diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Fragile X syndrome, Down syndrome, Parkinson's disease, spinocerebellar ataxia type 1, traumatic brain injury, and others. GSK3 inhibitors also improve cognition following impairments caused by therapeutic interventions, such as cranial irradiation for brain tumors. These findings demonstrate that GSK3 inhibitors are able to ameliorate cognitive impairments caused by a diverse array of diseases, injury, and treatments. The improvements in impaired cognition instilled by administration of GSK3 inhibitors appear to involve a variety of different mechanisms, such as supporting long-term potentiation and diminishing long-term depression, promotion of neurogenesis, reduction of inflammation, and increasing a number of neuroprotective mechanisms. The potential for GSK3 inhibitors to repair cognitive deficits associated with many conditions warrants further investigation of their potential for therapeutic interventions, particularly considering the current dearth of treatments available to reduce loss of cognitive functions.
KW - Alzheimer's disease
KW - Fragile X syndrome
KW - Glycogen synthase kinase-3
KW - Learning
KW - Lithium
KW - LTP
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U2 - 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2013.07.010
DO - 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2013.07.010
M3 - Review article
C2 - 23916593
AN - SCOPUS:84890552198
VL - 141
SP - 1
EP - 12
JO - Pharmacology and Therapeutics
JF - Pharmacology and Therapeutics
SN - 0163-7258
IS - 1
ER -