ROCK-I and ROCK-II cooperatively regulate closure of eyelid and ventral body wall in mouse embryo.
Rho-associated kinase (ROCK) is a serine/threonine kinase working in the Rho signaling to actin cytoskeleton. We previously reported that loss of ROCK-I results in the eyelid open at birth (EOB) and omphalocele phenotype in mice, while loss of ROCK-II results in placental dysfunction leading to intrauterine growth retardation and fetal death. Here, we report that after backcross to the C57BL/6 N genetic background, ROCK-II knockout (KO) neonates are born also with open eyelid and umbilical hernia, a phenotype similar to that of ROCK-I KO mice. ROCK-II KO embryos show impaired extension of the eyelid epithelial sheet with disorganized actin bundles in the leading edge of the sheet. These results suggest that ROCK-I and ROCK-II cooperatively regulates the assembly of actin bundles essential for closure of the eyelid and ventral body wall in mouse embryos. Consistently, ROCK-I(+/-)ROCK-II(+/-) double heterozygous mice also show the EOB and omphalocele phenotype.
Thumkeo
Dean
D
Department of Pharmacology, Kyoto University Faculty of Medicine, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
Shimizu
Yoshihiko
Y
Sakamoto
Satoko
S
Yamada
Shuichi
S
Narumiya
Shuh
S
D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D005143:Eyelids / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D005838:Genotype; D006554:Hernia, Umbilical / Q000201:enzymology; D006653:Histology; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D009024:Morphogenesis; D010641:Phenotype; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D014404:Tubulin / Q000378:metabolism; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases
D000199:Actins; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D014404:Tubulin; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases