title: ROCK inhibition prevents early mouse embryo development.
abstract: ROCK is a Rho-GTPase effector that is important for actin assembly and is involved in various cellular functions, including cell contraction, migration, motility, and tumor cell invasion. In this study, we investigated ROCK expression and function during early mouse embryo development. Inhibiting ROCK by Y-27632 treatment at the zygote stage resulted in first cleavage failure, and most embryos failed to develop to the 8-cell stage. When adding Y-27632 at the 8-cell stage, embryos failed to undergo compaction and could not develop into blastocysts. In addition, fluorescence staining intensity analysis indicated that actin expression at blastomere membranes was significantly reduced. After ROCK inhibition, two or more nuclei were observed in a cell, which indicated possible cytokinesis failure. Moreover, after ROCK inhibition with Y-27632, the phosphorylation levels of LIMK1/2, a downstream molecule of ROCK, were decreased at blastomere membranes. Thus, our results showed conserved roles for ROCK in this mammalian embryo model and indicated that a ROCK-LIMK1/2-actin pathway might regulate cleavage and blastocyst formation during early mouse embryo development.
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.
authors.forename: Xing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.forename: Kun-Lin
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiang-Shun
authors.initials: XS
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Nam-Hyung
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Shao-Chen
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D000577:Amides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000166:cytology; D001757:Blastomeres / Q000378:metabolism; D048749:Cytokinesis / Q000187:drug effects; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000378:metabolism; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000187:drug effects*; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D054461:Lim Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D010766:Phosphorylation / Q000187:drug effects; D011725:Pyridines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D000577:Amides; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D011725:Pyridines; C108830:Y 27632; D054461:Lim Kinases; C515893:Limk1 protein, mouse; C095325:Limk2 protein, mouse; C515854:Rock1 protein, mouse; C515855:Rock2 protein, mouse; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases