RhoA/Rho-kinase and vascular diseases: what is the link?

Abstract

RhoA/Rho-kinase pathway plays an important role in many pathological conditions. RhoA participates in the regulation of smooth muscle tone and activates many downstream kinases. The best characterized are the serine/threonine kinase isoforms (Rho-kinase or ROCK), ROCKα/ROCK2 and ROCKβ/ROCK1. ROCK is necessary for diverse functions such as local blood flow, arterial/pulmonary blood pressure, airway resistance and intestinal peristalsis. ROCK activation permits actin/myosin interactions and smooth muscle cells contraction by maintaining the activity of myosin light-chain kinase, independently of the free cytosolic calcium level. The sensitization of smooth muscle myofilaments to calcium has been implicated in many pathological states, such as hypertension, diabetes, heart attack, stroke, pulmonary hypertension, erectile dysfunction, and cancer. The focus of this review is on the involvement of RhoA/Rho-kinase in diseases. We will briefly describe the ROCK isoforms and the role of RhoA/Rho-kinase in the vasculature, before exploring the most recent findings regarding this pathway and various diseases.

• Authors: Kenia Pedrosa Nunes, Christine S Rigsby, R Clinton Webb
• Journal: Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS (Cell Mol Life Sci) Vol. 67 Issue 22 Pg. 3823-36 (Nov 2010) ISSN: 1420-9071 [Electronic] Switzerland
• PMID: 20668910 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)

Chemical References

• rho-Associated Kinases

Topics

• Animals
• Cardiovascular Diseases (enzymology)
• Diabetes Mellitus (enzymology)
• Erectile Dysfunction (enzymology)
• Humans
• Hypertension, Pulmonary (enzymology)
• Male
• Neoplasms (enzymology)
• rho-Associated Kinases (metabolism)