scholarly journals Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3 Signaling in Acute Kidney Injury

Nephron ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 144 (12) ◽  
pp. 609-612
Author(s):  
Abeda Jamadar ◽  
Reena Rao

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common clinical syndrome that involves renal tubular epithelial cell death and leads to acute decline in renal function. Improper tubular regeneration following AKI often leads to CKD. We discuss the role of a serine/threonine protein kinase called glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3) in renal tubular injury and renal fibrosis. We also highlight the importance of GSK3 as a potential drug target in AKI patients and molecular mechanisms promoting tissue regeneration.

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (47) ◽  
pp. 12608-12613 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bing-Qing Deng ◽  
Ying Luo ◽  
Xin Kang ◽  
Chang-Bin Li ◽  
Christophe Morisseau ◽  
...  

Acute kidney injury (AKI) causes severe morbidity and mortality for which new therapeutic strategies are needed. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), arachidonic acid (ARA), and their metabolites have various effects in kidney injury, but their molecular mechanisms are largely unknown. Here, we report that 14 (15)-epoxyeicosatrienoic acid [14 (15)-EET] and 19 (20)-epoxydocosapentaenoic acid [19 (20)-EDP], the major epoxide metabolites of ARA and DHA, respectively, have contradictory effects on kidney injury in a murine model of ischemia/reperfusion (I/R)-caused AKI. Specifically, 14 (15)-EET mitigated while 19 (20)-EDP exacerbated I/R kidney injury. Manipulation of the endogenous 19 (20)-EDP or 14 (15)-EET by alteration of their degradation or biosynthesis with selective inhibitors resulted in anticipated effects. These observations are supported by renal histological analysis, plasma levels of creatinine and urea nitrogen, and renal NGAL. The 14 (15)-EET significantly reversed the I/R-caused reduction in glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) phosphorylation in murine kidney, dose-dependently inhibited the hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R)-caused apoptosis of murine renal tubular epithelial cells (mRTECs), and reversed the H/R-caused reduction in GSK3β phosphorylation in mRTECs. In contrast, 19 (20)-EDP dose-dependently promoted H/R-caused apoptosis and worsened the reduction in GSK3β phosphorylation in mRTECs. In addition, 19 (20)-EDP was more metabolically stable than 14 (15)-EET in vivo and in vitro. Overall, these epoxide metabolites of ARA and DHA function conversely in I/R-AKI, possibly through their largely different metabolic stability and their opposite effects in modulation of H/R-caused RTEC apoptosis and GSK3β phosphorylation. This study provides AKI patients with promising therapeutic strategies and clinical cautions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 86 (5) ◽  
pp. 611-611
Author(s):  
Gregory A. Shilovsky ◽  
Tatyana S. Putyatina ◽  
Galina V. Morgunova ◽  
Alexander V. Seliverstov ◽  
Vasily V. Ashapkin ◽  
...  

PLoS ONE ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. e70356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juhwan Kim ◽  
Miyoung Yang ◽  
Sung-Ho Kim ◽  
Jong-Choon Kim ◽  
Hongbing Wang ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 318 (1) ◽  
pp. F209-F215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Zhou ◽  
Changlong An ◽  
Xiaogao Jin ◽  
Zhaoyong Hu ◽  
Robert L. Safirstein ◽  
...  

Cisplatin can cause acute kidney injury (AKI), but the molecular mechanisms are not well understood. The objective of the present study was to examine the role of transforming growth factor-β-activated kinase-1 (TAK1) in the pathogenesis of cisplatin-induced AKI. Wild-type mice and proximal tubule TAK1-deficient mice were treated with vehicle or cisplatin. Compared with wild-type control mice, proximal tubule TAK1-deficient mice had less severe kidney dysfunction, tubular damage, and apoptosis after cisplatin–induced AKI. Furthermore, conditional disruption of TAK1 in proximal tubular epithelial cells reduced caspase-3 activation, proinflammatory molecule expression, and JNK phosphorylation in the kidney in cisplatin-induced AKI. Taken together, cisplatin activates TAK1-JNK signaling pathway to promote tubular epithelial cell apoptosis and inflammation in cisplatin-induced AKI. Targeting TAK1 could be a novel therapeutic strategy against cisplatin-induced AKI.


Cells ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 1120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manisha Gupte ◽  
Prachi Umbarkar ◽  
Anand Prakash Singh ◽  
Qinkun Zhang ◽  
Sultan Tousif ◽  
...  

Obesity is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVD), including heart failure. Thus, there is an urgent need to understand the molecular mechanism of obesity-associated cardiac dysfunction. We recently reported the critical role of cardiomyocyte (CM) Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3 beta (GSK-3β) in cardiac dysfunction associated with a developing obesity model (deletion of CM-GSK-3β prior to obesity). In the present study, we investigated the role of CM-GSK-3β in a clinically more relevant model of established obesity (deletion of CM-GSK-3β after established obesity). CM-GSK-3β knockout (GSK-3βfl/flCre+/−) and controls (GSK-3βfl/flCre−/−) mice were subjected to a high-fat diet (HFD) in order to establish obesity. After 12 weeks of HFD treatment, all mice received tamoxifen injections for five consecutive days to delete GSK-3β specifically in CMs and continued on the HFD for a total period of 55 weeks. To our complete surprise, CM-GSK-3β knockout (KO) animals exhibited a globally improved glucose tolerance and maintained normal cardiac function. Mechanistically, in stark contrast to the developing obesity model, deleting CM-GSK-3β in obese animals did not adversely affect the GSK-3αS21 phosphorylation (activity) and maintained canonical β-catenin degradation pathway and cardiac function. As several GSK-3 inhibitors are in the trial to treat various chronic conditions, including metabolic diseases, these findings have important clinical implications. Specifically, our results provide critical pre-clinical data regarding the safety of GSK-3 inhibition in obese patients.


2019 ◽  
Vol 317 (6) ◽  
pp. C1289-C1303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahboubeh S. Noori ◽  
Pooja M. Bhatt ◽  
Maria C. Courreges ◽  
Davoud Ghazanfari ◽  
Chaz Cuckler ◽  
...  

Glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) is a multitasking protein kinase that regulates numerous critical cellular functions. Not surprisingly, elevated GSK-3 activity has been implicated in a host of diseases including pathological inflammation, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, asthma, bipolar disorder, and Alzheimer’s. Therefore, reagents that inhibit GSK-3 activity provide a means to investigate the role of GSK-3 in cellular physiology and pathophysiology and could become valuable therapeutics. Finding a potent inhibitor of GSK-3 that can selectively target this kinase, among over 500 protein kinases in the human genome, is a significant challenge. Thus there remains a critical need for the identification of selective inhibitors of GSK-3. In this work, we introduce a novel small organic compound, namely COB-187, which exhibits potent and highly selective inhibition of GSK-3. Specifically, this study 1) utilized a molecular screen of 414 kinase assays, representing 404 unique kinases, to reveal that COB-187 is a highly potent and selective inhibitor of GSK-3; 2) utilized a cellular assay to reveal that COB-187 decreases the phosphorylation of canonical GSK-3 substrates indicating that COB-187 inhibits cellular GSK-3 activity; and 3) reveals that a close isomer of COB-187 is also a selective and potent inhibitor of GSK-3. Taken together, these results demonstrate that we have discovered a region of chemical design space that contains novel GSK-3 inhibitors. These inhibitors will help to elucidate the intricate function of GSK-3 and can serve as a starting point for the development of potential therapeutics for diseases that involve aberrant GSK-3 activity.


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