title: ROCK-I and ROCK-II, two isoforms of Rho-associated coiled-coil forming protein serine/threonine kinase in mice.
abstract: We recently identified a novel human protein kinase, p160 ROCK, as a putative downstream target of the small GTPase Rho. Using the human ROCK cDNA as a probe, we isolated cDNA of two distinct, highly related sequences from mouse libraries. One encoded a mouse counterpart of human ROCK (ROCK-I), and the other encoded a novel ROCK-related kinase (ROCK-II). Like ROCK/ROCK-I, ROCK-II also bound to GTP-Rho selectively. ROCK-I mRNA was ubiquitously expressed except in the brain and muscle, whereas ROCK-II mRNA was expressed abundantly in the brain, muscle, heart, lung and placenta. These results suggest that at least two ROCK isoforms are present in a single species and play distinct roles in Rho-mediated signalling pathways.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Kyoto University Faculty of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fujisawa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishizaki
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakao
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Narumiya
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D007527:Isoenzymes; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins