The protein encoded by this gene is a serine-threonine kinase, belonging to the glycogen synthase kinase subfamily. It is involved in energy metabolism, neuronal cell development, and body pattern formation. Polymorphisms in this gene have been implicated in modifying risk of Parkinson disease, and studies in mice show that overexpression of this gene may be relevant to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene.[provided by RefSeq, Sep 2009]