QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online 9 June 2009
doi: 10.1242/jcs.040659

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: jcs.040659v1 122/13/2197    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Google Scholar Articles by Zhang, Y. Articles by Meng, A. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Zhang, Y. Articles by Meng, A. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Rock2 controls TGFβ signaling and inhibits mesoderm induction in zebrafish embryos

¹ Protein Science Laboratory of Ministry of Education, Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
² School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361005, China
³ State Key Laboratory of Biomembrane and Membrane Bioengineering, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: mengam{at}mail.tsinghua.edu.cn)

Accepted 16 March 2009

The Rho-associated serine/threonine kinases Rock1 and Rock2 play important roles in cell contraction, adhesion, migration, proliferation and apoptosis. Here we report that Rock2 acts as a negative regulator of the TGFβ signaling pathway. Mechanistically, Rock2 binds to and accelerates the lysosomal degradation of TGFβ type I receptors internalized from the cell surface in mammalian cells. The inhibitory effect of Rock2 on TGFβ signaling requires its kinase activity. In zebrafish embryos, injection of rock2a mRNA attenuates the expression of mesodermal markers during late blastulation and blocks the induction of mesoderm by ectopic Nodal signals. By contrast, overexpression of a dominant negative form of zebrafish rock2a, dnrock2a, has an opposite effect on mesoderm induction, suggesting that Rock2 proteins are endogenous inhibitors for mesoderm induction. Thus, our data have unraveled previously unidentified functions of Rock2, in controlling TGFβ signaling as well as in regulating embryonic patterning.

Key words: Rho kinases, Rock2, TGFβ, Zebrafish, Embryo

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				Y. Zhang, X. Li, J. Qi, J. Wang, X. Liu, H. Zhang, S.-C. Lin, and A. Meng Rock2 controls TGF{beta} signaling and inhibits mesoderm induction in zebrafish embryos Development, July 15, 2009; 136(14): e1 - e1. [Full Text]