Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3β: A True Foe in Pancreatic Cancer

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 23; no. 22; p. 14133
• Main Authors: Elmadbouh, Omer H M, Pandol, Stephen J, Edderkaoui, Mouad
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 16.11.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Apoptosis; Apoptosis - physiology; Chemoresistance; Glycogen; Glycogen synthase kinase 3; Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 beta - genetics; Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 beta - metabolism; Glycogens; GSK-3β; Humans; Kinases; Localization; Metastasis; Motility; Pancreatic cancer; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Pancreatic Neoplasms - drug therapy; Pancreatic Neoplasms - genetics; Pancreatic Neoplasms - metabolism; Phosphorylation; Protein kinase; Protein-serine/threonine kinase; Proteins; Review; Roles; Signal Transduction; Therapeutic targets; Tumors; GSK-3β; pancreatic cancer
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms232214133

Glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK-3β) is a serine/threonine protein kinase involved in multiple normal and pathological cell functions, including cell signalling and metabolism. GSK-3β is highly expressed in the onset and progression of multiple cancers with strong involvement in the regulation of proliferation, apoptosis, and chemoresistance. Multiple studies showed pro- and anti-cancer roles of GSK-3β creating confusion about the benefit of targeting GSK-3β for treating cancer. In this mini-review, we focus on the role of GSK-3β in pancreatic cancer. We demonstrate that the proposed anti-cancer roles of GSK-3β are not relevant to pancreatic cancer, and we argue why GSK-3β is, indeed, a very promising therapeutic target in pancreatic cancer.