肌球蛋白轻链激酶(myosin light chain kinase,MLCK)和ROCK/ROK/Rho激酶(Rho kinase,ROCK)是肌细胞和非肌细胞中调节肌球蛋白轻链磷酸化的两种重要激酶,肌球蛋白轻链磷酸化调节肌球蛋白的收缩参与了诸如细胞运动、粘附、组织修复和癌症转移和疾病发生等重要的生命活动。在这些重要的生命活动中,同样是催化肌球蛋白磷酸化的这两种激酶,MLCK和ROCK定位在不同的细胞区域,以不同的作用方式通过对细胞骨架的影响实现对细胞功能的精细调控。
Myosin light chain kinase and Rho kinase are two major enzymes controlling myosin light chain (MLC) phosphorylation in both muscle cells and non-muscle cells. MLC phosphorylation is the key reaction to regulate myosin contraction, which involved in many vital progresses, such as cell migration, adhesion, tissue repair, cancer metastasis and disease development etc. Although both of these two kinases could phosphorylate MLC and regulated cytoskeleton reorganization, there are distinct differences between their special location and the way to regulate cell function precisely by the cytoskeleton arrangement.