Structural insights and biological effects of glycogen synthase kinase 3-specific inhibitor AR-A014418

Glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3) is a serine/threonine kinase that has been implicated in pathological conditions such as diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. We report the characterization of a GSK3 inhibitor, AR-A014418, which inhibits GSK3 (IC50 = 104 ± 27 nM), in an ATP-competitive manner (K i = 38 nM). AR-A014418 does not significantly inhibit cdk2 or cdk5 (IC50 > 100 μM) or 26 other kinases demonstrating high specificity for GSK3. We report the co-crystallization of AR-A014418 with the GSK3β protein and provide a description of the interactions within the ATP pocket, as well as an understanding of the structural basis for the selectivity of AR-A014418. AR-A014418 inhibits tau phosphorylation at a GSK3-specific site (Ser-396) in cells stably expressing human four-repeat tau protein. AR-A014418 protects N2A neuroblastoma cells against cell death mediated by inhibition of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B survival pathway. Furthermore, AR-A014418 inhibits neurodegeneration mediated by β-amyloid peptide in hippocampal slices. AR-A014418 may thus have important applications as a tool to elucidate the role of GSK3 in cellular signaling and possibly in Alzheimer's disease. AR-A014418 is the first compound of a family of specific inhibitors of GSK3 that does not significantly inhibit closely related kinases such as cdk2 or cdk5.Supported by grants from the Comunidad de Madrid, the Fundacion “La Caixa,” the Lilly Foundation, the Spanish Comision Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnologia, and an institutional grant from the Fundacion Ramon Areces.Peer reviewe