1Department of Neurology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China
2Key Laboratory of Neurological Diseases (HUST), Ministry of Education of China, Wuhan 430030, China

Abstract 

Microglia are immunocompetent cells in the central nervous system that take up tissue debris and pathogens. Rho-associated kinase (ROCK) has been identified as an important regulator of uptake, proliferation, secretion, and differentiation in a number of cell types. AlthoughROCKplays critical roles in the microglial secretion of inflammatory factors, migration, and morphology, its effects on microglial uptake activity have not been well characterized. In the present study, we found that treatment of BV2 microglia and primary microglia with the ROCK inhibitors Y27632 and fasudil increased uptake activity and was associated with morphological changes. Furthermore, western blots showed that this increase in uptake activity was mediated through the extracellular- signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling cascade, indicating the importance ofROCKin regulating microglial uptake activity.

Keywords

Microglia, Rho-associated kinase, Uptake activity, Extracellular-signal-regulated kinase

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