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Regulation Of Akt And Wnt Signalling By The Dopamine D2 Receptor And Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor 2/3, Laurie P. Sutton

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Akt and the Wnt pathway, two cascades that regulate GSK-3, have been implicated in schizophrenia and antipsychotic drug action. Although it is known that antipsychotic drugs alleviate psychosis by blocking the dopamine D2 receptor (D2DR) and that metabotropic glutamate receptor 2/3 (mGluR2/3) agonists may improve some of the symptoms of schizophrenia, it is unclear if both classes of drugs exert their effects through Akt, GSK-3 and/or the Wnt pathway or if changes in these pathways are mediated through the D2DR and mGluR2/3 respectively. In addition to antipsychotics, mood stabilizers and antidepressants also target GSK-3, suggesting that there must be something …