Rho-associated protein kinase is an essential regulator of cytoskeletal dynamics during the process of neurite extension. However, whether Rho kinase regulates microtubule remodeling or the distribution of adhesive proteins to mediate neurite outgrowth remains unclear. By using the ROCK inhibitor, Y-27632, and the agonist, lysophosphatidic acid, Kenen Chen and colleagues from First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University in China observed that neurite outgrowth, microtubule remodeling and vinculin redistribution were tightly regulated by ROCK. They found that lysophosphatidic acid inhibited neurite outgrowth, which could be reversed by Y-27632. Meanwhile, reorganization of microtubules was noticed during these processes, as indicated by their significant changes in the soma and growth cone. These findings, published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 32, 2013), suggest that Rho kinase regulates rat hippocampal neurite growth and microtubule formation via a mechanism associated with the redistribution of vinculin.
This is a Rho-associated protein kinase-regulated microtubule remodeling in rat hippocampus (immunofluorescence staining, scale bars: 10 μm.). After lysophosphatidic acid-treated cultures, inside the neurites, microtubules were arranged in a disorderly manner, and no typical growth cones were observed.
(Photo Credit: Neural Regeneration Research)
Source: Neural Regeneration Research