Glycogen synthase kinase-3beta immunoreactivity is reduced in the prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia.
Beasley C., Cotter D., Khan N., Pollard C., Sheppard P., Varndell I., Lovestone S., Anderton B., Everall I.
Cytoarchitectural abnormalities have been reported in the cortex in schizophrenia. These suggest a developmental origin for this disorder. The Wnt signalling pathway is involved in the regulation of brain development; disruption of this pathway may lead to abnormal cortical development. In this study levels of three components of the Wnt signalling pathway; glycogen synthase kinase-3beta(GSK-3beta), beta-catenin and dishevelled-2 (Dvl-2) were determined in the prefrontal cortex of ten schizophrenic and ten control individuals using immunoblotting. GSK-3beta levels were significantly reduced in the schizophrenic group, while levels of beta-catenin and Dvl-2 did not differ between groups. This provides further evidence for an abnormality of the Wnt signalling pathway in schizophrenia.