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Rhos and Rho kinases in the rat prostate: their possible functional roles and distributions

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Abstract

As there is increasing evidence that Rho–Rho kinase (ROCK) pathway plays an important role in the proliferation and contraction in many tissues, we investigated the contractile role of a ROCK inhibitor, fasudil, and the distribution of RhoA, RhoB, RhoC, ROCK1, and ROCK2 in the rat prostate. Twelve-week-old Sprague-Dawley rat prostate was used in this study. Rat prostatic contractile responses induced by carbachol and norepinephrine were investigated in organ bath studies without or with 10−7, 10−6, and 10−5 M of a non-selective ROCK inhibitor, fasudil. Immunoblot analysis and immunohistochemical staining were performed to investigate the participation levels of RhoA, RhoB, RhoC, ROCK1, and ROCK2. The E max values induced by carbachol and norepinephrine were similar in the rat prostate. Fasudil significantly inhibited carbachol- or norepinephrine-induced prostatic contractions in a dose-dependent manner. Fasudil 10−5 M reduced the initial prostatic contraction (without fasudil) to 56.7 ± 5.9% for carbachol and to 45.7 ± 12.3% for norepinephrine. Amounts of RhoA, RhoB, RhoC, ROCK1, and ROCK2 were detected by immunoblot analysis in the prostate. Immunohistochemical study revealed that RhoA, RhoB, RhoC, ROCK1, and ROCK2 were all positive in the prostatic smooth muscle, while there were some differences of distributions of Immunoreactivities between these enzymes in the prostatic glandula. Our data indicated that rat prostate contains RhoA, RhoB, RhoC, ROCK1, and ROCK2, which play an important role in the autonomic nerve-mediated contractile responses in the prostate.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathophysiological and Therapeutic Science, Division of Molecular Pharmacology, Tottori University School of Medicine, 86 Nishimachi, Yonago, 683-8503, Japan

    Motoaki Saito, Fumiya Ohmasa, Fotios Dimitriadis, Harunori Ohiwa, Shogo Shimizu, Panagiota Tsounapi, Yukako Kinoshita & Keisuke Satoh

  2. Department of Microbiology and Pathology, Division of Organ Pathology, Tottori University School of Medicine, Yonago, Japan

    Kohei Shomori

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  1. Motoaki Saito
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  2. Fumiya Ohmasa
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  3. Kohei Shomori
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  4. Fotios Dimitriadis
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  5. Harunori Ohiwa
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  6. Shogo Shimizu
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  7. Panagiota Tsounapi
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  8. Yukako Kinoshita
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  9. Keisuke Satoh
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Correspondence to Motoaki Saito.

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Saito, M., Ohmasa, F., Shomori, K. et al. Rhos and Rho kinases in the rat prostate: their possible functional roles and distributions. Mol Cell Biochem 358, 207–213 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11010-011-0936-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11010-011-0936-9

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