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  • Signal-Crosstalk Between Rh...
    Ohtsu, Haruhiko; Mifune, Mizuo; Frank, Gerald D; Saito, Shuichi; Inagami, Tadashi; Kim-Mitsuyama, Shokei; Takuwa, Yoh; Sasaki, Terukatsu; Rothstein, Jeffrey D; Suzuki, Hiroyuki; Nakashima, Hidekatsu; Woolfolk, Elethia A; Motley, Evangeline D; Eguchi, Satoru

    Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology, 2005-September, Volume: 25, Issue: 9
    Journal Article

    BACKGROUND—Rho and its effector Rho-kinase/ROCK mediate cytoskeletal reorganization as well as smooth muscle contraction. Recent studies indicate that Rho and ROCK are critically involved in vascular remodeling. Here, we tested the hypothesis that Rho/ROCK are critically involved in angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) by mediating a specific signal cross-talk. METHODS AND RESULTS—Immunoblotting demonstrated that Ang II stimulated phosphorylation of a ROCK substrate, regulatory myosin phosphatase targeting subunit (MYPT)-1. Phosphorylation of MYPT-1 as well as migration of VSMCs induced by Ang II was inhibited by dominant-negative Rho (dnRho) or ROCK inhibitor, Y27632. Ang II–induced c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) activation, but extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activation was not mediated through Rho/ROCK. Thus, infection of adenovirus encoding dnJNK inhibited VSMC migration by Ang II. We have further demonstrated that the Rho/ROCK activation by Ang II requires protein kinase C-δ (PKCδ) and proline-rich tyrosine kinase 2 (PYK2) activation, but not epidermal growth factor receptor transactivation. Also, VSMCs express PDZ-Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) and Ang II stimulated PYK2 association with tyrosine phosphorylated PDZ-RhoGEF. CONCLUSIONS—PKCδ/PYK2-dependent Rho/ROCK activation through PDZ-RhoGEF mediates Ang II–induced VSMC migration via JNK activation in VSMCs, providing a novel mechanistic role of the Rho/ROCK cascade that is involved in vascular remodeling.