Rho-associated protein kinase

Function

Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) is a Rho GTPase effector. ROCK has been shown to regulate cadherin function and thus cell-cell adhesion^[1]. ROCKs phosphorylate a large number of actin-binding proteins to modulate their functions.

Disease

Aberrant ROCK expression and activation contribute to cancer development. ROCK levels are elevated in testicular, bladder and esophageal cancers^[2].

Relevance

ROCK inhibitors have potential to be developed for treatment of glaucoma and other ocular diseases^[3].

Structural highlights

ROCK contains several domains including (in ROCK1) a kinase domain (residues 76-338); a coiled-coil region (residues 339-1103) which contains a Rho-binding domain (residues 934-1015) and a pleckstrin homology and cysteine-rich domain (residues 1103-1320) at the C-terminal.