Nitric oxide biological role

Radomdd MW, Salas E. (1995a). Nitric oxide-biological mediator, modulator and factor of injury its role in the pathogenesis of atherosderosis. Atherosderosis 118(Suppl.) S69-S80. 

Kaminski, H. I., and Andrade, F, H. (2001). Nitric oxide Biologic effects on mu.scic and role in muscle diseases. Neuromuscular Disorder.t 11, 517-524,... 

Nitric oxide (NO) is a gaseous cellular messenger that transmits information between cells and within cells. In spite of its physiological role, NO is also a reactive species which is capable of reacting with biological molecules, and... 

The lack of zinc can also be a problem in biological systems and is responsible for disease states. For example, nitric oxide-dependent apoptosis can be induced in motor neurons by zinc-deficient SOD, and in some cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, zinc-deficient SOD may participate in this type of oxidative mechanism involving nitric oxide.969 One form of hereditary human hair loss or alopecia was mapped to a specific gene and a mutation found in affected individuals. The gene encodes a single zinc finger transcription factor protein with restricted expression in the brain and skin.970 Zinc has been implicated in Alzheimer s via beta amyloid formation, and a role has been attributed for the cerebral zinc metabolism in the neuropathogenesis of Alzheimer s disease.971... 

Nitric oxide is important to a wide variety of mammalian physiological processes (1,2), beyond being a constituent of air pollution (3). Natural physiological activities are now known to include roles in blood pressure control, neurotransmission and immune response, and a number of disease states involving NO imbalances have been reported (2,4) as the result of extensive research activity into the chemistry, biology and pharmacology of NO. Understanding the fundamental reaction mechanisms... 

The subj ect has been treated as part of a general discussion of N O-donors in a number of reviews [1-4]. This chapter will briefly introduce the general properties of these systems and the chief methods to synthesise them, after which it will concentrate on their NO-donor properties and NO-dependent biological activities. The term NO will be used here as a family name, embracing not only nitric oxide (NO ) but also its two redox forms, nitroxyl (HNO) and nitrosonium ion (NO+), which play important roles in the complex signalling system connected with NO [5]. The specific redox form involved in the NO-release will be indicated, if known, when necessary for the discussion. 

The physiological importance of nitric oxide should also be mentioned. It plays an important role in smooth muscle relaxation, platelet inhibition, neurotransmission, immune regulation, and penile erection (Nobel Prize in 1998 for the discovery of its role in the cardiovascular system). The importance of NO in biological systems stimulated the development of electrochemical sensors and the investigation of the electrochemical behavior of that compound. 

The stable free radical nitric oxide (NO) has an important role as a biological messenger. The reaction of NO with superoxide (O2 ) forms the powerful oxidant peroxynitrite (ONOO ), and a mechanism for the reaction of ONOO resulting in the abstraction of H from C—H bonds is shown (equations 109, 110). The formation of HO from the spontaneous decomposition of peroxynitrite, and of COJ radicals from CO2 catalyzed decomposition of peroxynitrite, have been demonstrated. ... 

Zumft, W. G. (1993). The biological role of nitric oxide in bacteria. Arch. Microbiol. 160, 253-264. 

Although oxygen radicals are destructive to islet cells, the inability of nicotinamide, Probucol, and other free radical scavengers to completely prevent cytokine mediated islet destruction suggests that other cytotoxic mechanisms may be involved in cytokine-induced islet-cell lysis. The possible interactions of superoxide with nitric oxide resulting in the generation of peroxynitrite and hydroxyl radicals may contribute to islet-cell lysis. The chemistry of these free radical interactions, and potential biological roles t)f these toxic radicals are reviewed in this book (see Chapter 1). 

Moncada S, Higgs EA The discovery of nitric oxide and its role in vascular biology. Br J Pharmacol 2006 147 S193. 

Murad, F. Discovery of some of the biological effects of nitric oxide and its role in cell signalling (Nobel lecture), Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 1999, 38, 1856-1868. 

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