The Ca2+ has diverse effects spanning short and long timescales, for example, evoking or modulating neurotransmitter release, cytokine secretion, muscle contraction, migration, proliferation, apoptosis and gene expression (Berridge et al., 2003).
The small GTPase Rho and one of its targets, Rho-associated kinase (ROCK), participate in a variety of actin-based cellular processes including smooth muscle contraction, cell migration, and stress fiber formation.
ROCKs are small guanosine triphosphate binding proteins which mediate smooth muscle contraction, cell migration, and proliferation by inhibition of eNOS [ 36].
MLCK is a Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase that regulates a variety of cellular functions, such as, muscle contraction and cell migration.
Intracellular Ca2+ is the most important regulator of muscle contraction, cell proliferation and migration.
As a consequence, MLC phosphorylation enhances many contractile processes, such as, muscle contraction, stress fiber formation, focal adhesion, cell migration, and cytokinesis [6], [11].
Rho-kinase is an effector of small GTPase Rho and is implicated in various cellular functions, including cell migration, cell adhesion, smooth muscle contraction, cytokinesis and neurite retraction [7], [8].
5-HT induces the contraction, migration, and proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells via the 5-HT2A receptor followed by various intracellular signal transduction mechanisms (9– 11).
The former exhibited an enrichment of processes linked to cytoskeletal reorganisation, with the top five significant terms being leucocyte transendothelial migration, bacterial invasion of epithelial cells, regulation of actin cytoskeleton, focal adhesion and muscle contraction.
Phosphagen kinases are abundant in muscle, where they maintain ATP homeostasis during muscle contraction [ 38, 39], in the gills which function in nitrogen excretion and gas exchange [ 40] and in cell migration [ 41].
Muscle contraction is fast.
