Alteration in expressions of RhoA and Rho-kinases during pregnancy in rats: their roles in uterine contractions and onset of labour.

Alteration in expressions of RhoA and Rho-kinases during pregnancy in rats: their roles in uterine contractions and onset of labour. J Physiol Pharmacol. 2017 Jun;68(3):439-451 Authors: Domokos D, Ducza E, Falkay G, Gaspar R Abstract Activation of RhoA and Rho-associated kinases (ROCKs) is known to play a pivotal role in the regulation of smooth muscle contraction via phosphorylation of myosin-light chain and myosin phosphatase. There are few data on the RhoA and ROCKs expression levels in rat uteri. Therefore, our aim was to investigate the mRNA and protein concentration of RhoA and ROCKs in rat uterus during pregnancy, during parturition and post-partum using real time PCR and Western blot analysis. The other purpose was to evaluate the effects of the ROCK (Y-27632, fasudil and RKI 1441) and RhoA inhibitors (simvastatin) on uterine contractility in isolated organ bath experiments. The mRNA and protein levels of RhoA decreased on the 5th day of pregnancy to day 22, then a sharp increase was detected at term. The mRNA and protein concentration of ROCKs was down-regulated in the early stage of pregnancy, while it sharply increased during parturition. The RhoA-inhibitor simvastatin relaxed the uterus contractions, although its inhibitory effects were not followed by the alteration of RhoA. The strongest inhibitory effect of non-selective ROCK inhibitor fasudil was found on non-pregnant uterus, while it elicited milder relaxation on day...
Source: Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Tags: J Physiol Pharmacol Source Type: research