# Rho/ROCK Signaling Pathway in Kidney Diseases: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Perspectives

## TL;DR

This paper reviews how the Rho/ROCK signaling pathway contributes to kidney diseases and explores its potential as a therapeutic target.

## Contribution

The paper provides a comprehensive overview of Rho/ROCK signaling mechanisms in major kidney diseases and highlights its therapeutic potential.

## Key findings

- Abnormal Rho/ROCK signaling is linked to acute kidney injury, diabetic nephropathy, hypertension-related nephropathy, and chronic allograft nephropathy.
- The pathway contributes to podocyte injury, EMT, mesangial cell proliferation, and inflammation in the kidney.
- Targeting Rho/ROCK signaling offers potential for new kidney disease treatments.

## Abstract

Rho GTPases are a group of guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-binding proteins with a relative molecular weight of about 20–30 kD, and 22 different Rho GTPases have been identified in mammalian cells, among which RhoA, Rac1 and Cdc42 are the most well-studied. Rho-associated coiled coil forming protein kinase (ROCK) is the most well-researched downstream effector of Rho GTPases. The Rho/ROCK signaling pathway widely participates in the reorganization of the cytoskeleton through cascade phosphorylation/dephosphorylation reactions and modulates cellular biological behaviors including cell adhesion, migration and phenotypic transformation. Abnormal activation of the Rho/ROCK signaling pathway is closely associated with the occurrence and progression of acute kidney injury, diabetic nephropathy, hypertension-related nephropathy and chronic allograft nephropathy, which contributes to podocyte injury, renal tubular epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), mesangial cell proliferation and inflammatory infiltration in the kidney. This review focuses on the research progress and regulatory mechanisms of the Rho/ROCK signaling pathway in the above four major kidney diseases and discusses the therapeutic potential of targeting this pathway for kidney disease treatment, aiming to provide new insights for elucidating the pathogenesis of kidney diseases and developing novel therapeutic strategies.