Rho-associated Kinase (ROCK) mediates Rho signaling and reorganizes the actin cytoskeleton by phosphorylation of several substrates that contribute to the assembly of actin filaments and contractility. ROCK inactivates myosin phosphatase through the specific phosphorylation of myosin phosphatase target subunit 1 (MYPT1) at Thr-696, which results in an increase in the phosphorylated content of the 20-kDa myosin light chain (MLC20).

Our ROCK Activity Assay Kits use a safe, non-radioactive format to measure the level of active Rho Kinase in cell or tissue lysates. The Immunoblot kit provides a convenient way to measure ROCK activity in a few samples, while the ELISA kit allows higher throughput and more accurate quantitation. The ELISA kit contains a strip-well plate pre-coated with recombinant MYPT1.

1. Li, Z. et al. (2009). TrkBT1 induces liver metastasis of pancreatic cancer cells by sequestering Rho GDP dissociation inhibitor and promoting RhoA activation. Cancer Res. 69:7851-7859 (#STA-415).
2. Xiao, L. et al. (2009). ROCK mediates phorbol ester-induced apoptosis in prostate cancer cells via p21-Cip1 upr-egulation and JNK. J. Biol. Chem. 284:29365-29375 (#STA-415).
3. Haas, B. et al. (2009). Protein kinase G controls brown fat cell differntaiation and mitochondrial biogenesis. Sci. Signal. 2:ra78 (#STA-416)