An investigation of the Wnt-signalling pathway in the prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder

Abstract 

The Wnt-signalling pathway has been implicated in a variety of processes including cortical development and plasticity. We have previously demonstrated a reduction in glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) levels in the prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia and aimed to further elucidate the abnormalities of the Wnt-signalling pathway in this and other psychiatric disorders. Immunoblotting was performed to quantify the levels of three members of the Wnt-signalling pathway, GSK-3β, β-catenin and dishevelled-2 (Dvl-2), in the prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder and in matched controls. We found no significant differences between the disease and control groups for any of the proteins studied, and therefore, cannot confirm our earlier findings of abnormalities of GSK-3β in schizophrenia.

Keywords:  Prefrontal cortex, Wnt signalling, Development, Schizophrenia, Bipolar disorder, Major depression