Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:1.14.99.3 (heme oxygenase)
 4,196 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

1. Carbon monoxide (CO), produced by haem oxygenase through degradation of haem, has been claimed to be a neuromessenger and a possible regulator of vascular tone. We examined whether the haem oxygenase inhibitor, zinc protoporphyrin-IX (ZnPP) and other porphyrins affect the relaxation evoked by various agents in the rat isolated aorta. 2. Pretreatment with ZnPP (0.1 mM) virtually abolished the relaxation evoked by vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP). ZnPP also evoked a rightward shift of the concentration-response curve for the relaxation induced by acetylcholine. 3. In contrast, ZnPP did not affect the relaxation evoked by forskolin and 3-morpholino-sydnonimine, agents which directly activate adenylate and guanylate cyclase, respectively. 4. Although, less effective than ZnPP, tin protoporphyrin-IX (SnPP; 0.1 mM) and protoporphyrin-IX (PP; 0.1 mM) also attenuated the VIP-evoked relaxation. 5. The elevation of cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP levels evoked by VIP and ANP, respectively, were abolished by pretreatment with ZnPP (0.1 mM). 6. ZnPP, SnPP and PP did not affect the contraction evoked by phenylephrine. 7. The results show that ZnPP inhibits relaxation induced by VIP, ANP and acetylcholine, probably by interfering with membrane receptor-coupled signal transduction pathways. This inhibition does not seem to be dependent upon inhibition of haem oxygenase. The lack of specificity of the haem oxygenase inhibiting metalloporphyrins makes them less suitable as pharmacological tools in the investigation of a messenger role for CO.
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PMID:Inhibition by zinc protoporphyrin-IX of receptor-mediated relaxation of the rat aorta in a manner distinct from inhibition of haem oxygenase. 764 74

1. In the feline lower oesophageal sphincter (LOS), the distribution of the carbon monoxide (CO) producing enzymes haem oxygenase (HO)-1 and -2 was studied by immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy, the HO activity was measured and the possible role for CO as a mediator of relaxation was investigated. 2. HO-2 immunoreactivity was abundant in nerve cell bodies of the submucosal and myenteric plexus. Approximately 50% of the HO-2-containing myenteric cell bodies were also nitric oxide synthase- and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP)-immunoreactive. In addition, HO-2 immunoreactivity was seen in nerve fibres, in non-neuronal cells dispersed in the smooth muscle and in arterial endothelium. HO-1 immunoreactivity was confined to non-neuronal cells in the smooth muscle, similar to those positive for HO-2. 3. Activity of HO, measured as CO production, was observed in LOS homogenates at a rate of 1.00 +/- 0.05 nmol mg-1 protein h-1. This production was inhibited by the HO inhibitor, zinc protoporphyrin-IX (ZnPP). 4. In isolated circular smooth muscle strips of LOS, developing spontaneous tone, exogenously administered CO evoked a concentration-dependent relaxation reaching a maximum of 93 +/- 3%. This relaxation was accompanied by an increase in cyclic GMP, but not cyclic AMP levels. The relaxant response was attenuated by methylene blue, but unaffected by tetrodotoxin. Repeated exposure to CO resulted in a progressive reduction of the relaxant response. 5. ZnPP caused a rightward-shift of the concentration-response curves for the relaxant responses to VIP, peptide histidine isoleucine, and pituitary adenylate cyclase activating peptide 27. 6. ZnPP and tin protoporphyrin-IX (another inhibitor of HO) did not affect nonadrenergic, noncholinergic relaxations induced by electrical field stimulation. Nor did ZnPP affect relaxations induced by 3-morpholino-sydnonimine or forskolin. 7. The present findings, showing localization of HO immunoreactivity to both neuronal and nonneuronal cells of the feline LOS, ability of LOS to produce CO and a relaxant effect of CO in circular LOS muscle, suggest a role for CO as a peripheral messenger.
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PMID:Localization and activity of haem oxygenase and functional effects of carbon monoxide in the feline lower oesophageal sphincter. 873 43

Carbon monoxide, formed as a product of heme oxygenase activity, has been postulated to act as an intra- and intercellular messenger molecule. We addressed the hypothesis that heme oxygenase is involved in the relaxation of the guinea pig trachealis elicited by vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) or by electrical field stimulation. Immunohistochemical studies revealed the presence of heme oxygenase-II in airway smooth muscle and epithelium. Zinc protoporphyrin-IX (ZnPPn), an inhibitor of heme oxygenase, effectively inhibited VIP-induced relaxations of tracheal smooth muscle. Surprisingly, the potency of ZnPPn was increased if the drug was preincubated with the VIP solution before addition to the tissue bath. The relaxant responses to 3-morpholinosydnonimine were unaffected by ZnPPn. Zinc deuteroporphyrin-IX 2,4 bisglycol, a more potent inhibitor of heme oxygenase than ZnPPn, did not affect the VIP responses. ZnPPn (300 microM) had no effect on nonadrenergic, noncholinergic relaxations of the guinea pig trachea. These data indicate that although ZnPPn is an efficacous inhibitor of VIP-induced relaxations of the guinea pig trachealis, it is unlikely that heme oxygenase plays an important role in this response. Rather, the data are consistent with the hypothesis that ZnPPn inhibits the VIP response via an interaction with the VIP molecules themselves. Although the results demonstrate the existence of heme oxygenase-II in the guinea pig trachealis, they do not support the hypothesis that it plays a role in electrical field stimulation-induced nonadrenergic, noncholinergic relaxations.
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PMID:Inhibition by zinc protoporphyrin-IX of vasoactive intestinal peptide-induced relaxations of guinea pig isolated trachea. 876 54

Carbon monoxide (CO), produced by haem oxygenase (HO), has been suggested as a messenger molecule in the central and peripheral nervous systems. In the present study, we have investigated the occurrence of the two isoforms of HO, HO-2 and HO-1 in the canine and feline gastrointestinal tracts, including the small and large intestine and the gastrointestinal sphincters. An abundance of nerve cell bodies that contained immunoreactivity for HO-2 was found in the submucosal and myenteric plexuses. HO-2 immunoreactivity was frequently co-localized with nitric oxide synthase (NOS) or vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) immunoreactivities and was also observed in some nerve fibres, certain non-neuronal cells dispersed among smooth muscle bundles, and in vascular endothelium. The antiserum against HO-1 revealed immunoreactivity in nerve cell bodies in the enteric plexuses, in nerve fibres and in non neuronal cells in the smooth muscle layers. Some of the nerve structures were also NOS- or VIP-immunoreactive. These results demonstrate the presence of HO isoenzymes in nerves and other structures of the canine and feline gastrointestinal tracts and support the view that CO may have a role as a messenger molecule in the enteric nervous system.
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PMID:Morphological relations between haem oxygenases, NO-synthase and VIP in the canine and feline gastrointestinal tracts. 925 72

Electrical field stimulation (EFS) of dog gallbladder strips induced a frequency-dependent contractile response followed by an off-relaxation that was turned into a pure inhibitory response after atropine pretreatment. Guanethidine reduced the atropine-induced relaxing responses, so an adrenergic mechanism can partially account for the nerve-mediated gallbladder relaxation. However, guanethidine pretreatment also revealed a nonadrenergic noncholinergic (NANC) relaxation induced by EFS, which was frequency independent. NANC relaxations were reduced by L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME, 100 micromol L-1), a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor (D-p-Cl-Phe6, Leul7; 10 micromol L-1), a vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) receptor antagonist, and an inhibitor of haem oxygenase, (copper protoporphyrin IX; CuPP-IX; 10 micromol L-1), suggesting that nitric oxide (NO), VIP and carbon monoxide (CO), respectively, are released in response to EFS. Immunoreactivities for haem oxygenase-2 (HO-2) and VIP, and histochemical staining for NADPH diaphorase were observed in nerve cell bodies and fibres, demonstrating the presence of CO, VIP and NO as putative NANC neurotransmitters in dog gallbladder. These data support the hypothesis that NO, VIP and CO contribute to NANC relaxation of the canine gallbladder.
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PMID:Relaxation of canine gallbladder to nerve stimulation involves adrenergic and non-adrenergic non-cholinergic mechanisms. 1190 16

Cytoglobin (Cygb), a novel oxygen-binding protein, is expressed in the majority of tissues and has been proposed to function in nitric oxide (NO) metabolism in the vasculature and to have cytoprotective properties. However, the overall functions of Cygb remain elusive. Cygb is also expressed in a subpopulation of brain neurons. Recently, it has been shown that stress upregulates Cygb expression in the brain and the majority of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS)-positive neurons, an enzyme that produces NO, co-express Cygb. However, there are more neurons expressing Cygb than nNOS, thus a large number of Cygb neurons remain uncharacterized by the neurochemical content. The aim of the present study was to provide an additional and more detailed neurochemical phenotype of Cygb-expressing neurons in the rat hippocampus. The rat hippocampus was chosen due to the abundance of Cygb, as well as this limbic structure being an important target in a number of neurodegenerative diseases. Using triple immunohistochemistry, it was demonstrated that nearly all the parvalbumin- and heme oxygenase 1-positive neurons co-express Cygb and to a large extent, these neuron populations are distinct from the population of Cygb neurons co-expressing nNOS. Furthermore, it was shown that the majority of neurons expressing somastostatin and vasoactive intestinal peptide also co-express Cygb and nNOS. Detailed information regarding the neurochemical phenotype of Cygb neurons in the hippocampus can be a valuable tool in determining the function of Cygb in the brain.
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PMID:Neurochemical phenotype of cytoglobin-expressing neurons in the rat hippocampus. 2505