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Publication Abstract from PubMed

GSK-3beta is a regulatory serine/threonine kinase with a plethora of cellular targets. Consequently, selective small molecule inhibitors of GSK-3beta may have a variety of therapeutic uses including the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, type II diabetes and cancer. In order to characterize the active site of GSK-3beta, we determined crystal structures of unphosphorylated GSK-3beta in complex with selective and non-selective ATP-mimetic inhibitors. Analysis of the inhibitors' interactions with GSK-3beta in the structures reveals how the enzyme can accommodate a number of diverse molecular scaffolds. In addition, a conserved water molecule near Thr138 is identified that can serve a functional role in inhibitor binding. Finally, a comparison of the interactions made by selective and non-selective inhibitors highlights residues on the edge of the ATP binding-site that can be used to obtain inhibitor selectivity. Information gained from these structures provides a promising route for the design of second-generation GSK-3beta inhibitors.

Structural characterization of the GSK-3beta active site using selective and non-selective ATP-mimetic inhibitors.,Bertrand JA, Thieffine S, Vulpetti A, Cristiani C, Valsasina B, Knapp S, Kalisz HM, Flocco M J Mol Biol. 2003 Oct 17;333(2):393-407. PMID:14529625^[1]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.