Rho Associated Coiled Coil Containing Protein Kinase 2 (Rock2)

ROCK2 is a serine/threonine kinase that regulates cytokinesis, smooth muscle contraction, the formation of actin stress fibers and focal adhesions, and the activation of the c-fos  serum response element. ROCK2, which is an isozyme of ROCK1, is a target for the small GTPase Rho.

By screening human brain cDNAs for the potential to encode proteins larger than 50 kD, Ishikawa et al. (1998) identified a ROCK2 cDNA, which they called KIAA0619. RT-PCR detected ROCK2 expression in all human tissues examined.By PCR of human cDNA using oligonucleotides based on the sequence of a bovine ROCK2 cDNA, followed by screening of a human brain cDNA library, Takahashi et al. (1999) isolated a human ROCK2 cDNA.