Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:1.6.5.2 (NQO1)
 6,196 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Nitric oxide can act as a neurotransmitter and a retrograde modulator of synaptic transmission, but uncontrolled nitric oxide synthase activity has been associated with neural degeneration. Although earlier studies using immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, and NADPH-diaphorase staining had suggested that nitric oxide synthase is not expressed in the CA1 neurons of the hippocampus, we have recently demonstrated that NADPH-diaphorase activity can be detected in CA1 neurons of the hippocampus. To confirm that this diaphorase activity reflects nitric oxide synthase, we have developed a more sensitive in situ hybridization procedure, and an RNase protection assay to detect message for constitutive nitric oxide synthase, the form constitutively expressed in many neurons. Message for constitutive nitric oxide synthase is expressed in the hippocampus, and it is localized to neural cell layers CA1, CA3, the dentate gyrus and some displaced neurons, but not to CA2. Expression of constitutive nitric oxide synthase message in the CA1 region was lost when pyramidal neurons died due to transient forebrain ischemia, supporting the conclusion that CA1 pyramidal cells express constitutive nitric oxide synthase. Although constitutive nitric oxide synthase message is strongly expressed in CA3 and the dentate gyrus, there is little diaphorase activity in these cells, suggesting that there may be post-transcriptional controls that limit constitutive nitric oxide synthase expression in some cells. Message for constitutive nitric oxide synthase is also present in a number of other regions, including the amygdala, several hypothalamic nuclei, the cerebellum, the olfactory bulb, two distinct regions of the perirhinal cortex, the subthalamic nuclei, a neuronal layer in the retrosplenial granular cortex, the lateral geniculate nucleus, the presubiculum, the inferior colliculus, the superior colliculus, the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus, and scattered individual neurons in the cortex, hippocampus and brainstem. These studies support a role for nitric oxide in multiple regions of the central nervous system. In particular, nitric oxide synthase, the enzyme responsible for the synthesis of nitric oxide, is expressed in the CA1 region of the hippocampus, where there is evidence that nitric oxide may play a major role in long-term potentiation. CA1 hippocampal neurons are an example of a population of neurons that express constitutive nitric oxide synthase but are very sensitive to excitotoxicity and ischemic insults.
 ...
PMID:Expression of the neural form of nitric oxide synthase by CA1 hippocampal neurons and other central nervous system neurons. 753 83

Nitric-oxide-releasing nerves regulate esophageal smooth muscle function. The density of such nerve fibers may differ in the different functional parts of the esophagus. We used both inspection and gray-scale analysis of digitized images to seek differences in density of such nerve fibers, stained for reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate diaphorase (NADPH-diaphorase), between esophageal body and esophago-gastric sphincter and between smooth muscle layers in the opossum esophagus. Sections of Swiss roll preparations of the entire organ were stained for NADPH-diaphorase and for immunoreactivity to vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), galanin (GAL), substance P (SP) and constitutive nitric oxide synthase (cNOS). In the circular muscle layer, NADPH-diaphorase-positive fibers were most abundant at the cephalic end of the esophageal body with a significant decline toward and through the esophago-gastric sphincter. In the longitudinal muscle layer and the longitudinally-oriented muscularis mucosae, NADPH-diaphorase-positive nerve fibers were most abundant at the esophago-gastric sphincter with a significant decline toward and through the striated-smooth muscle junction. cNOS immunoreactivity co-localized with NADPH-diaphorase activity. Fibers stained for CGRP immunoreactivity were distributed like the NADPH-diaphorase-positive fibers. Fibers stained for immunoreactivity to the other peptides (VIP, GAL, SP) showed no clear differences in distribution along the esophagus in any of the muscle layers.
 ...
PMID:NADPH-diaphorase-positive nerve fibers in smooth muscle layers of opossum esophagus: gradients in density. 754 93

Recent work has implicated nitric oxide (NO) in several aspects of male genital physiology including erectile function and androgen secretion, as well as in vitro effects on sperm motility and capacitation. The objectives of this study were to characterize the distribution of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) in "normal" human testis, epididymis, and vas deferens and in testis pathology. Nitric oxide synthase protein was localized immunohistochemically using an eNOS monoclonal antibody. Endothelial NOS protein co-localized to areas that showed positive NADPH diaphorase activity. Within the testis, eNOS protein was localized to the cytoplasm of Leydig cells and Sertoli cells at all stages of spermatogenesis. Within the epididymis and vas deferens, eNOS was localized to the epithelium. Endothelial NOS was also localized to endothelial cells in all tissues; it was not detectable in normal germ cells. Endothelial NOS and diaphorase activity were, however, detected in degenerating or apoptotic intraepithelial germ cells. In addition, prematurely shed spermatocytes and spermatids had intense eNOS expression. Previous studies have suggested a role for NOS in the contractile, hemodynamic, and hormonal aspects of testicular function as well as in epididymal secretion. The studies reported herein suggest a role for eNOS in spermatogenesis and germ cell degeneration.
 ...
PMID:Immunohistochemical localization of endothelial nitric oxide synthase in human testis, epididymis, and vas deferens suggests a possible role for nitric oxide in spermatogenesis, sperm maturation, and programmed cell death. 890 2

To study the role of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) in rat experimental bronchial asthma. 3H-arginine/3H-L-citrulline conversion technique was used to assay NOS activity of rat lung tissue and histochemical staining method for detect NADPH-d diaphorase. The results revealed that there were significant increase in the level of iNOS activity in asthma group from 152.39% to 249.40%, but the cNOS activity reduced from 64.84% to 61.81% (P < 0.05-0.01). Histochemical staining of NADPH-d showed deep staining of trachial and bronchial epithelium in asthma group. These results suggested that NOS plays a role in regulating airway inflammation and bronchial responsiveness. cNOS possesses a down regulatory effect, while iNOS upregulatory. The occurrence of airway inflammation is earlier than that of smooth muscle contraction and endothelial injury.
 ...
PMID:[An experimental study on the effect of nitric oxide synthase in bronchial asthma]. 1043 84

The purpose of this study was to determine whether nitric oxide (NO) is present in clinically normal horses under basal conditions and if it increases secondary to naturally acquired small intestinal strangulation obstruction. Thirty-one horses were used; 20 horses with naturally acquired small intestinal strangulation obstruction and 11 clinically normal horses with no signs of gastrointestinal tract disease. Jugular venous blood, abdominal fluid, and urine were collected for NO quantification. Plasma, abdominal fluid, and urine were stored at -70 degrees C until analyzed for NO using a chemiluminescent method. Biopsy specimens collected from the affected jejunal segment, during anesthesia or after immediately after euthanasia, or from the midjejunum of control horses, were divided into subsections for fixation in zinc formalin and cryopreservation in OCT gel. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (reduced) (NADPH) diaphorase histochemical stains were performed on cryopreserved tissues and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and nitrotyrosine immunohistochemical stains were performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues. There were significantly greater plasma and abdominal fluid NO concentrations in affected horses as compared with controls, but there were no significant differences between horses for urine NO concentrations. There was a significant decrease in NADPH diaphorase stain in mucosal epithelium, vasculature, and leukocytes, and in submucosal plexi in affected horses compared with control horses. There was a significant increase in iNOS staining in mucosal and submucosal leukocytes and in mucosal leukocyte nitrotyrosine staining of the affected compared with control horses. Endothelial NOS and neuronal NOS are present under basal conditions in the jejunum of horses and probably mediate physiologic or cytoprotective effects. Plasma and abdominal fluid, but not urine, NO concentrations increase subsequent to small intestinal strangulation obstruction; this may be associated with increased mucosal and submucosal iNOS staining in leukocytes, which was likely due to increased expression subsequent to stimuli associated with ischemia. The increased nitrotyrosine staining in mucosal leukocytes of affected horses likely reflects the presence of peroxynitrite subsequent to increased NO and superoxide production and may reflect a cytotoxic role of NO in small intestinal strangulation obstruction in horses.
 ...
PMID:Detection and comparison of nitric oxide in clinically normal horses and those with naturally acquired small intestinal strangulation obstruction. 1053 1

To date few reports have discussed the presence and function of nitric oxide (NO) in structures of the facial nerve. We performed nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH-d)-diaphorase-histochemistry and immunohistochemistry on the intratemporal portion of the facial nerve, including the geniculate ganglion, of guinea pigs using specific antibodies to the three known isoforms of NO synthase and soluble guanylyl-cyclase (sGC). Normal facial nerves were compared to those treated intratympanically with bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). Both constitutive NOS isoforms and sGC could be detected in the bipolar ganglion cells of normal animals, while the inducible isoform (iNOS or NOS II) was not found. Endothelial NOS (NOS III) and sGC were present in blood vessels and were predominantly found in the perineurial sheath and less in the endoneurium. sGC could be detected in all fibers in a cross section of the facial nerve. LPS and TNF treatment led to the detection of iNOS in the perikaryia of the geniculate ganglion and the perineural sheath. These findings imply that NO may be involved in neurotransmission at least in the visceroafferent system. NO regulates vascular tone of nutrient blood vessels in the perineural sheath and endoneurium. The presence of sGC indicates that NO acts via its second messenger cGMP. NOS II expression may be a contributing factor to facial nerve palsy via two different mechanisms: NOS II-generated NO may lead to an overstimulation of the visceroefferent nerve fibers and motor fibers of the facial nerve. Dysregulation in facial nerve blood vessels could lead to edema and elevated pressure on the nerve within its osseous canal.
 ...
PMID:Involvement of nitric oxide synthase in the physiology and pathophysiology of facial nerve function and dysfunction. 1086 32

1. Production of nitric oxide (NO) is implicated in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease. However, the cells responsible for the production of NO in situ in the human colon remain unknown. 2. Surgical samples from 12 patients with ulcerative colitis, eight patients with Crohn's disease and 10 controls were studied. Possible generation of NO was visualized by reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) diaphorase activity in human colon. Immunohistological staining for various NO synthase (NOS) isoforms (endothelial, neuronal and inducible), nitrotyrosine and interleukin-2 was also performed. 3. Reduced NADPH diaphorase activity was not found in lamina propria mononuclear cells, but was found in colonic epithelium, endothelium and myenteric neurons and their processes. 4. The NADPH-diaphorase activity positive processes were significantly less common in colon from patients with Crohn's disease compared with control colon. 5. Endothelial NOS was constitutively expressed on colonic endothelium. 6. Neuronal NOS was constitutively expressed on myenteric neurons. 7. Expression of inducible NOS (iNOS) was increased in the epithelium and endothelium of the colon of patients with ulcerative colitis. 8. No correlation was found between expression of iNOS and NADPH diaphorase activity. 9. Nitrotyrosine was expressed by lamina propria leucocytes, but not by epithelium. 10. Interleukin-2 was expressed on both leucocytes and myenteric neurons. 11. Colonic epithelium, endothelium and myenteric neurons synthesize NO. Myenteric neurons were principally responsible for NO production and NO may act as a neurotransmitter in the enteric nervous system.
 ...
PMID:In situ generation of nitric oxide by myenteric neurons but not by mononuclear cells of the human colon. 1115 29