Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:1.6.99.1 (NADPH-diaphorase)
3,903 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Nitric oxide (NO) mediates the effects of the excitatory amino acids in the central nervous system. Excitatory amino acids, in particular L-glutamate, are thought to be the neurotransmitter(s) present at the cochlear hair cell-afferent nerve synapse. To our knowledge, no studies to date have documented the presence of NO in the cochlea nor attempted to elucidate the role of NO in hearing. Rat cochlea frozen sections were examined for the presence of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) by NADPH diaphorase histochemistry. Vibratome sections of rat cochlea were examined by immunocytochemistry with an antibody to citrulline, an indication of NOS activity. Spiral ganglion cells in the rat cochlea were positive by NADPH diaphorase histochemistry and by anti-citrulline immunocytochemistry. These results indicate that NOS is present and that the enzyme actively produces nitric oxide in the spiral ganglion cells of the rat cochlea. Given our current understanding of neurotransmission in the cochlea, it is reasonable to postulate that the actions of NO in cochlear neuronal tissue are similar to the actions of NO in the CNS and that NO acts as a neurotransmitter/neuromodulator in the cochlea. In addition, because NO has been implicated as a mediator of excitotoxicity in the CNS, NO may play a role in neurotoxicity in the cochlea.
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PMID:Nitric oxide synthase is an active enzyme in the spiral ganglion cells of the rat cochlea. 752 38

The recent discovery of the identify of nitric oxide synthase with the reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase (NADPH-d) has powerfully stimulated the anatomical localization of sites of nitric oxide synthesis in the nervous system. In the present study the widely used light microscopical technique for NADPH-d staining was adapted to the electron microscopical level by applying the tetrazolium salt 2-(2'-benzothiazolyl)-5-styryl-3-(4'-phthalhydrazidyl)tetrazolium chloride (BSPT) which produces an electron-dense reaction product, BSPT-formazan. Predominantly membranes of the endoplasmic reticulum were stained. Apart from singular heavily labeled neurons, a majority of nerve cells, light microscopically "unstained", shows sporadically formazan deposits, and, likewise, but regionally different, a few astroglial cells. Lesions induced by the glutamate agonists quinolinic acid and alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA) display surviving neurons, which are predominantly stained for NADPH-d. Astroglial cells within lesioned areas exhibit increased amounts of reaction product, apparently as a consequence of enzyme induction.
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PMID:Nitric oxide synthase in the brain: light and electron microscopical findings based on the NADPH-diaphorase reaction. 753 22

The distribution of nitric oxide producing neurones in the medulla oblongata of the cat was investigated using nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)-diaphorase histochemistry, and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) immunohistochemistry. The pattern of staining obtained with both methods was found to be similar. Strongly diaphorase and NOS reactive neurones were present in the paramedian and lateral tegmental fields, including the regions occupied by the A1/C1 catecholamine cell groups, the nucleus ambiguus and lateral reticular nucleus, and in a number of sensory nuclei including the nucleus of the tractus solitarius and the dorsal column nuclei. The extent of co-localization of NADPH-diaphorase with a number of neuropeptides and neurotransmitters was investigated by combining NADPH-diaphorase histochemistry with immunocytochemistry for neuropeptide Y, somatostatin, glutamate, cholecystokinin and tyrosine hydroxylase. NADPH-diaphorase reaction product was observed in neurones immunoreactive for glutamate and somatostatin. These double-labelled cells were found in the paramedian region, lateral reticular field, the nucleus prepositus hypoglossi and in the rostral nucleus of the tractus solitarius. In the rostral ventrolateral medulla NADPH-diaphorase/somatostatin immunoreactive cells were found in the paragigantocellular nucleus. NADPH-diaphorase/glutamate immunoreactive cells overlapped the nucleus ambiguus, the lateral reticular nucleus and the A1/C1 catecholaminergic cell groups. In addition, a few NADPH-diaphorase/glutamate immunoreactive cells were found in the paraolivary area and gigantocellular tegmental field, in the external cuneate and infratrigeminal nuclei. The functional implications of the co-localization of nitric oxide with these neurotransmitters in areas of the medulla concerned with cardiovascular regulation is discussed.
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PMID:Co-localization of neurotransmitter immunoreactivities in putative nitric oxide synthesizing neurones of the cat brain stem. 754 Dec 9

By means of immunocytochemical methods, immunoreactivity for the brain isoform of nitric oxide synthase (NOS-I) was recognized in numerous Leydig cells of the human testis as well as in MA-10 tumor and TM3 non-tumor mouse Leydig cell lines. Within the Leydig cell cytoplasm, immunocytochemical results suggested the occurrence of factors known to activate NOS-I such as glutamate and aspartate, as well as molecules involved in the regulation of the NOS-I activity such as calmodulin and Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II. Leydig cells, Sertoli cells, some endothelial cells of the testis, MA-10- and TM3 mouse Leydig cell lines exhibited a relatively strong NADPH-diaphorase enzyme activity as well. Double sequential immunostainings provided evidence that NOS-like immunoreactivity of the testicular Leydig cells is colocalized with testosterone, calmodulin, aspartate, glutamate, and Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II. Sodium nitro-prusside treatment did not result in increased cGMP formation by MA-10- or TM3 mouse Leydig cells, suggesting that NO produced by these cells acts primarily in a paracrine fashion. The NO produced by NOS-I immunoreactive Leydig cells may act as a messenger: 1) between neighbouring NOS-I positive and/or negative Leydig cells as well as to mediate the action of numerous intracellular and extracellular neuroactive substances and growth factors; 2) between Leydig cells and the muscle cells or pericytes of blood vessels to regulate local blood flow and permeability; and 3) between Leydig cells and pertibular myofibroblasts to influence their contraction and the permeability of the lamina propria.
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PMID:Nitric oxide synthase (NOS-I) in Leydig cells of the human testis. 754 13

To study the sequence of degenerative events possibly associated with cholinergic cell death in Alzheimer's disease, septal cholinergic neurons derived from rat embryonic brains were exposed to chronic excitotoxic stress by glutamate. Counts of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT)-immunopositive neurons and measurement of ChAT activity revealed that concentrations of glutamate on the order of 70 microM killed 50% of cholinergic neurons after 24 hr of treatment. Neurotoxic effects were not aimed at cholinergic neurons specifically, since other populations of cells present in these cultures were also affected at similar concentrations. The noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor channel antagonist MK-801 (10 microM) abolished acute neuronal swelling and rescued from late degeneration both cholinergic and noncholinergic cells when concentrations of glutamate up to 500 microM were added to the cultures. Protective effects declined progressively with increasing concentrations of the amino acid, even when MK-801 was raised to its highest nontoxic levels, e.g., 50 microM. the kainate/quisqualate receptor antagonist CNQX provided no protection alone or in combination with MK-801. Nerve growth factor (NGF), used in standard culture conditions to stimulate the expression of the cholinergic phenotype, was shown not to influence excitotoxic neurodegenerative changes. Several observations suggested that nitric oxide (NO) may act as an intercellular messenger of NMDA-mediated cell death in septal cultures: 1) Most of the cholinergic neurons contained the NO synthase enzyme as characterized by NADPH-diaphorase (NADPH-d) staining; 2) sodium nitroprusside (SNP) [a chemical with the ability of generating NO] was capable of mimicking some of the aspects of the glutamate-induced degenerative process; 3) the rise in cyclic GMP which was observed in the presence of toxic levels of glutamate and which is usually taken as an index of NO production, was antagonized by MK-801 and by the inhibitor of the NO synthase enzyme, L-NOARG. Yet, the fact that L-NOARG and its congener, L-NAME, were ineffective in preventing glutamate-induced neurodegenerative changes in our culture system did not substantiate our working hypothesis. Altogether these results suggest that glutamate-induced cholinergic neuronal death is the consequence of an overstimulation of NMDA receptors and that neither NGF nor NO plays a key role in the degenerative process.
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PMID:Death of septal cholinergic neurons produced by chronic exposure to glutamate is prevented by the noncompetitive NMDA receptor/channel antagonist, MK-801: role of nerve growth factor and nitric oxide. 762 90

An impairment of energy metabolism may underlie slow excitotoxic neuronal death in neurodegenerative diseases. We therefore examined the effects of intrastriatal, subacute systemic, or chronic systemic administration of the mitochondrial toxin 3-nitropropionic acid (3-NP) in rats. Following intrastriatal injection 3-NP produced dose-dependent striatal lesions. Neurochemical and histologic evaluation showed that markers of both spiny projection neurons (GABA, substance P, calbindin) and aspiny interneurons (somatostatin, neuropeptide Y, NADPH-diaphorase) were equally affected. Subacute systemic administration of 3-NP produced age-dependent bilateral striatal lesions with a similar neurochemical profile. However, in contrast to the intrastriatal injections, striatal dopaminergic afferent projections were spared. Both freeze-clamp measurements and chemical shift magnetic resonance spectroscopy showed that 3-NP impairs energy metabolism in the striatum in vivo. Microdialysis showed no increase in extracellular glutamate concentrations after systemic administration of 3-NP. The lesions produced by intrastriatal injection or systemic administration of 3-NP were blocked by prior decortication. However, the NMDA antagonist MK-801 did not block the effects of intrastriatal 3-NP, consistent with a non-NMDA excitotoxic mechanism. In contrast to subacute systemic administration of 3-NP, chronic (1 month) administration produced lesions confined to the striatum in which there was relative sparing of NADPH-diaphorase interneurons, consistent with an NMDA excitotoxic process. Chronic administration showed growth-related proliferative changes in dendrites of spiny neurons similar to changes in Huntington's disease (HD). These results are consistent with in vitro studies showing that mild metabolic compromise can selectively activate NMDA receptors while more severe compromise activates both NMDA and non-NMDA receptors. Chronic administration of 3-NP over 1 month produces selective striatal lesions that replicate many of the characteristic histologic and neurochemical features of HD.
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PMID:Neurochemical and histologic characterization of striatal excitotoxic lesions produced by the mitochondrial toxin 3-nitropropionic acid. 769 9

Change in cytosolic calcium ion level ([Ca2+]) after glutamate exposure was evaluated using fluo-3 on rat cortical neurons. The result showed that neurons that contain nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate diaphorase (NADPH-d) were capable of blocking glutamate-induced rise in [Ca2+]. However, with the inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, NADPH-d-positive cells lost their ability to regulate [Ca2+], suggesting a possible role of nitric oxide in protecting this distinct class of neurons from glutamate neurotoxicity by inhibiting glutamate-induced calcium influx.
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PMID:Endogenous nitric oxide blocks calcium influx induced by glutamate in neurons containing NADPH diaphorase. 769 7

Excitotoxins constitute a group of agents that are capable of activating excitatory amino acid receptors and producing axonsparing neuronal lesions. Focal injections of the exogenous excitotoxins kainic acid and ibotenic acid result in depletion of neurotransmitter markers in neuronal cell bodies located in areas of injection or in terminal zones of their projections. The discovery of endogenous agents that behave as excitotoxins has generated interest in the idea that excitotoxicity may contribute to the neuronal degeneration associated with a number of neurological diseases (Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease) which involve selective neurotransmitter deficits. Quinolinic acid (QUIN), a pyridine dicarboxylic acid and metabolite of tryptophan, which has been detected in the central nervous system (CNS), behaves as an excitotoxin. In the mammalian brain QUIN has been localized to glial and immune cells, and its content increases with age. The neuro-excitatory and neurotoxic actions of QUIN are mediated via the Mg(2+)-sensitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. The toxicity of QUIN, like that of kainate, but not ibotenate, is dependent on the presence of an intact glutamate-aspartate afferent input to the target area. Focal injections of QUIN into the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (nbM), a major source of cholinergic innervation to diencephalic areas, produce sustained loss of cholinergic neuron markers in the neocortex and amygdala. The neurotoxic action of QUIN on nbM results in an impairment of performance on memory-related tasks. Cortical and amygdaloid projecting cholinergic neurons show differential sensitivity to QUIN and other excitotoxic agents. This factor may partly explain the reported discrepancy between mnemonic deficits and the loss of cholinergic markers in the cerebral cortex induced by intra-nbM injections of certain excitotoxins. Cortical muscarinic receptor function is not significantly influenced by QUIN injections into the nbM producing loss of cortical cholinergic neurons. In the striatum, focal QUIN injections have been found to largely replicate the neurotransmitter deficits prevailing in Huntington's disease, an inherited movement disorder. Intrastriatal QUIN produces a profound loss of the NADPH diaphorase staining neurons in the area of injection but relatively spares these in the adjacent transition zone. QUIN is also highly damaging to the striatopallidal enkephalinergic neurons. However, at doses that are neurotoxic to striatal neurons, QUIN and several other excitotoxins produce significant elevations in enkephalin levels both in the striatum and globus pallidus. This elevation reflects the presence of a plasticity in the striatal enkephalinergic neuron population. The metabolic pathway yielding QUIN produces a number of intermediates that act as excitotoxin antagonists.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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PMID:The 1993 Upjohn Award Lecture. Quinolinic acid induced brain neurotransmitter deficits: modulation by endogenous excitotoxin antagonists. 773 38

Cerebral neurogenic vasodilation is mediated predominantly by nitric oxide (NO). Thus, NO was suggested to be a vasodilator transmitter. In the present study, the possibility that cerebral perivascular nerves can convert citrulline to arginine was examined to ascertain that NO is derived directly from these perivascular nerves. To investigate the uptake of citrulline and its conversion to arginine, both fresh and cold storage-denervated porcine cerebral arteries with or without endothelial cells were incubated at 37 degrees C for 2 hr in Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate buffer containing 0.5 mM purified [14C]ureido-citrulline. The formation of [14C]arginine was measured as 14CO2 by a coupled enzymatic assay involving arginase and urease. The abolishment of nitric oxidergic nerves was verified by NADPH-diaphorase (constitutive NO synthases) histochemical staining method. The results indicated that there was an active conversion of [14C]arginine from [14C]citrulline in nerve-intact arteries denuded of endothelial cells. The conversion was significantly decreased in denervated arteries, accompanied by a significantly reduced citrulline uptake into these denervated arteries. L-Glutamine, but not L-glutamate, gamma-aminobutyric acid, or nitro-L-arginine significantly inhibited the uptake of [14C]citrulline into cerebral perivascular nerves. These data suggest that porcine cerebral vasodilator nerves are nitric oxidergic in nature and citrulline, co-produced with NO by NO synthases from arginine, can be recycled to form arginine in these nerves. The existence of a functional arginine-citrulline cycle may contribute to a constant supply of L-arginine and suggests a neuronal source of NO for inducing cerebral vasodilation.
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PMID:Arginine synthesis from citrulline in perivascular nerves of cerebral artery. 775 95

The topographical relationships between cholinergic neurons, identified by their immunoreactivity for choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) or their staining for beta-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)-diaphorase, and dopaminergic, serotoninergic, noradrenergic, and glutamatergic neurons that occur in the mesopontine tegmentum, were studied in the squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus). The ChAT-positive neurons in the pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN) form two distinct subpopulations, one that corresponds to PPN pars compacta (PPNc) and the other to PPN pars dissipata (PPNd). The ChAT-positive neurons in PPNc are clustered along the dorsolateral border of the superior cerebellar peduncle (SP) at trochlear nucleus levels, whereas those in PPNd are scattered along the SP from midmesencephalic to midpontine levels. At levels caudal to the trochlear nucleus, ChAT-positive neurons corresponding to the laterodorsal tegmental nucleus (LDT) lie within the periaqueductal gray and extend caudally as far as locus coeruleus levels. All ChAT-positive neurons in PPN and LDT stain for NADPH-diaphorase; the majority of large neurons in PPN and LDT are cholinergic, but some large neurons devoid of NADPH-diaphorase also occur in these nuclei. Cholinergic neurons in the mesopontine tegmentum form clusters that are largely segregated from raphe serotonin-immunoreactive neurons, as well as from nigral dopaminergic and coeruleal noradrenergic neurons, as revealed by tyrosine hydroxylase immunohistochemistry. Nevertheless, dendrites of cholinergic and noradrenergic neurons are closely intermingled, suggesting the possibility of dendrodendritic contacts. In addition, numerous large and medium-sized glutamate-immunoreactive neurons are intermingled among cholinergic neurons in PPN. Furthermore, at trochlear nucleus levels, about 40% of cholinergic neurons display glutamate immunoreactivity, whereas other neurons express glutamate or ChAT immunoreactivity only. This study demonstrates that 1) cholinergic neurons remain largely segregated from monoaminergic neurons throughout the mesopontine tegmentum and 2) PPN contains cholinergic and glutamatergic neurons as well as neurons coexpressing ChAT and glutamate in primates.
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PMID:Pedunculopontine nucleus in the squirrel monkey: distribution of cholinergic and monoaminergic neurons in the mesopontine tegmentum with evidence for the presence of glutamate in cholinergic neurons. 791 26


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