Saadeldin Islam M, Tukur Hammed A, Aljumaah Riyadh S, Sindi Ramya A
Department of Animal Production, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Comparative Medicine, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Front Cell Dev Biol. 2021 Jan 11;8:616762. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2020.616762. eCollection 2020.
The rho-associated coiled-coil-containing proteins (ROCKs or rho kinase) are effectors of the small rho-GTPase rhoA, which acts as a signaling molecule to regulate a variety of cellular processes, including cell proliferation, adhesion, polarity, cytokinesis, and survival. Owing to the multifunctionality of these kinases, an increasing number of studies focus on understanding the pleiotropic effects of the ROCK signaling pathway in the coordination and control of growth (proliferation, initiation, and progression), development (morphology and differentiation), and survival in many cell types. There is growing evidence that ROCKs actively phosphorylate several actin-binding proteins and intermediate filament proteins during oocyte cytokinesis, the preimplantation embryos as well as the stem cell development and differentiation. In this review, we focus on the participation of ROCK proteins in oocyte maturation, blastocyst formation, and stem cell development with a special focus on the selective targeting of ROCK isoforms, ROCK1, and ROCK2. The selective switching of cell fate through ROCK inhibition would provide a novel paradigm for oocyte maturation, experimental embryology, and clinical applications.
含Rho相关卷曲螺旋的蛋白（ROCKs或Rho激酶）是小Rho-GTP酶RhoA的效应器，RhoA作为一种信号分子，可调节多种细胞过程，包括细胞增殖、黏附、极性、胞质分裂和存活。由于这些激酶具有多功能性，越来越多的研究致力于了解ROCK信号通路在多种细胞类型的生长（增殖、起始和进展）、发育（形态和分化）及存活的协调与控制中的多效性作用。越来越多的证据表明，在卵母细胞胞质分裂、植入前胚胎以及干细胞发育和分化过程中，ROCKs会积极磷酸化多种肌动蛋白结合蛋白和中间丝蛋白。在本综述中，我们重点关注ROCK蛋白在卵母细胞成熟、囊胚形成和干细胞发育中的参与情况，特别关注ROCK亚型ROCK1和ROCK2的选择性靶向作用。通过抑制ROCK实现细胞命运的选择性转换，将为卵母细胞成熟、实验胚胎学及临床应用提供一种新的范例。
