GSK3B

Psychiatry

Internal medicine

Enzyme

GSK-3

Kinase

Glycogen synthase

Phosphoglucomutase

Bipolar disorder

Mania

Glycogen

Lithium (medication)

Treatment of bipolar disorder

Biochemistry

Bioinformatics

Medicine

Biology

Cells

Lithium salts have been in the therapeutic toolbox for better or worse since the 19th century, with purported benefit in gout, hangover, insomnia, and early suggestions that lithium improved psychiatric disorders. However, the remarkable effects of lithium reported by John Cade and subsequently by Mogens Schou revolutionized the treatment of bipolar disorder. The known molecular targets of lithium are surprisingly few and include the signaling kinase glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3), a group of structurally related phosphomonoesterases that includes inositol monophosphatases, and phosphoglucomutase. Here we present a brief history of the therapeutic uses of lithium and then focus on GSK-3 as a therapeutic target in diverse diseases, including bipolar disorder, cancer, and coronavirus infections.

Lithium and Therapeutic Targeting of GSK-3