Distribution of rho-kinase in the bovine brain

Rho-associated kinase (Rho-kinase) is a serine/threonine protein kinase dow nstream of the small GTPase Rho, which participates in signaling pathways o f many cellular functions. Although Rho-kinase is implicated in the regulat ion of the morphology of neuronal cells, the distribution of Rho-kinase in the brain has not been elucidated yet. In this study, we investigated the d istribution of Rho-kinase using three antibodies recognizing the different epitopes of Rho-kinase, Rho-kinase was abundantly expressed in the gray mat ter in comparison with the white matter. Strong immunoreactivity was observ ed in the pyramidal neurons of the cerebral cortex and hippocampus and in t he Purkinje cells of the cerebellum. These results indicate that Rho-kinase is abundantly distributed in neurons and might play an important role in r emodeling of neurites, (C) 1999 Academic Press.