There are many different issues that are covered on this topic that are important. The pathway that is the main concern for this article is the AKT/GSK pathway. This is a lesser known pathway, but can also cause many issues if it is not correctly dealt with. This pathway is linked to many other neurotransmitter pathways in the brain so one fault in this pathway can cause issues somewhere else. Some of the diseases that can occur of this pathway are depression, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease.
One of the first diseases that is mentioned in this article is depression. This is associated with low levels of GSK. This low level of GSK is typically caused by low amounts of dopamine within someone’s system. This makes sense because dopamine is usually associated with the reward system of the individual. If dopamine is low, a person is not being stimulated enough. This causes less dopamine to be released, affecting many pathways within that individual’s brain. The GSK pathway is one of those affected by lowering the level of GSK below normal.
Another disease that can be associated with the AKT/GSK pathway is schizophrenia. The issue that is dealt with in this paper is the treatment of schizophrenia by using this pathway. The researchers suggest that this could be a possible target for future pharmaceuticals. These drugs would target the AKT1 molecule. This is because people with schizophrenia typically have lower amounts of Akt1 within their system. Another target molecule fir this system would be GSK. With having less Akt1 molecules there would be more GSK molecules that are not phosphorylated. This means that the complex of GSK would be in its active state. The pharmaceuticals would target this molecule and try to inactivate it so it cannot work anymore.
A third disease that is discussed about in this paper is Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s disease may be caused by a lower amount of dopamine in the brain. Many of the modern pharmaceuticals that treat this disease try to increase the amount of dopamine within the brain. When studying the effects of Parkinson’s disease researchers found out that the amount of dopamine caused there to be a decreased amount of AKT and GSK. This is what causes researchers to think that the AKT/GSK pathway may be involved with the onset of Parkinson’s disease.
Overall it can be seen that Dopamine and this pathway is a very important part of everyday functioning. This pathway can also cause much harm within the brain if it has become unbalanced. This is when the pathway needs to be monitored. From this pathway, there can be treatments for the above listed diseases. This pathway can also help diagnose potential diseases that are still hard to diagnose. Dopamine is a very important neurotransmitter in the, but everything that is good there is some harm that can go along with it.
Akt/GSK, How Important is it?
