title: Novel Insights into the Roles of Rho Kinase in Cancer.
abstract: Rho-associated coiled-coil kinase (ROCK) is a major downstream effector of the small GTPase RhoA. The ROCK family, consisting of ROCK1 and ROCK2, plays a central role in the organization of the actin cytoskeleton, and is involved in a wide range of fundamental cellular functions such as contraction, adhesion, migration, proliferation, and apoptosis. Since the discovery of effective inhibitors such as fasudil and Y27632, the biological roles of ROCK have been extensively explored in numerous diseases, including cancer. Accumulating evidence supports the concept that ROCK plays important roles in tumor development and progression through regulating many key cellular functions associated with malignancy, including tumorigenicity, tumor growth, metastasis, angiogenesis, tumor cell apoptosis/survival and chemoresistance as well. This review focuses on the new advances of the most recent 5 years from the studies on the roles of ROCK in cancer development and progression; the discussion is mainly focused on the potential value of ROCK inhibitors in cancer therapy.
authors.affiliation: Riley Heart Research Center, Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research, Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University, School of Medicine, R4 Building, Room 332, 1044 West Walnut Street, Indianapolis, IN, 46202-5225, USA. lewei@iu.edu.|Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology, Indiana University, School of Medicine, 1044 West Walnut Street, R4-370, Indianapolis, IN, 46202-5225, USA. lewei@iu.edu.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Riley Heart Research Center, Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research, Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University, School of Medicine, R4 Building, Room 332, 1044 West Walnut Street, Indianapolis, IN, 46202-5225, USA.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Surma
authors.affiliation: Riley Heart Research Center, Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research, Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University, School of Medicine, R4 Building, Room 332, 1044 West Walnut Street, Indianapolis, IN, 46202-5225, USA.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Riley Heart Research Center, Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research, Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University, School of Medicine, R4 Building, Room 332, 1044 West Walnut Street, Indianapolis, IN, 46202-5225, USA.
authors.forename: Nathan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lambert-Cheatham
authors.affiliation: Riley Heart Research Center, Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research, Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University, School of Medicine, R4 Building, Room 332, 1044 West Walnut Street, Indianapolis, IN, 46202-5225, USA. jishi@iu.edu.
authors.forename: Jianjian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shi
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002465:Cell Movement; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002470:Cell Survival; D018450:Disease Progression; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000378:metabolism; D009154:Mutation; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D020033:Protein Isoforms; C515851:ROCK1 protein, human; C515852:ROCK2 protein, human; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases
keywords: Cancer therapy; ROCK isoform-specific inhibitor; Rho kinase; Rho kinase pan-inhibitor