Figure 3.

Immunotherapeutic strategies using ROCK inhibitors. ROCK inhibition in antigen presenting cells upregulates their phagocytic function to eliminate cancer cells and mediates the adaptive immune response. In addition, blockade of ROCK in cancer cells can maintain enough genomic instability to activate the cGAS/STING pathway and evoke sequential immune cell responses. ROCK inhibition can also hamper the PD-L1 expression in cancer cells and persist T-cell activation. YAP nuclear localization is controlled by Rho/ROCK signaling to recruit immunosuppressive cells in the TME. Furthermore, ROCK inhibitors can alter the TME by restricting the infiltration of MDSCs or M2 type macrophages.