Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.4.2.8 (hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase)
 2,527 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Expression and androgen regulation of the gene for neuronal nitric oxide synthase (NOS I) were examined in neurons of the major pelvic ganglia in male rats. Some of these postganglionic neurons innervate the penis and produce nitric oxide, which is believed to play a major role in penile erection. Rats were either castrated or sham operated and implanted with SILASTIC brand capsules filled with powdered testosterone (T) or 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone (5alphaDHT) or left empty. After 4 days, the number of neurons intensely stained for NADPH-diaphorase as well as those giving a NOS I signal in in situ hybridization experiments increased in castrated rats treated with testosterone by 31% and 42%, respectively, relative to those in untreated castrated rats. This suggests that the increase in NADPH-diaphorase activity resulted from enzyme synthesis and was due to a modification of NOS I messenger RNA (mRNA) accumulation. After 7 days, Northern blot analysis showed that castration produced a decrease in the amount of NOS I mRNA relative to that of ribosomal RNA. This decrease was almost prevented by T treatment. No significant differences were observed by reverse transcriptase-PCR between 7-day and 28-day treatments. However, in 7-day castrated rats treated with 5alphaDHT, NOS I signals relative to those of hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase, taken as reference, were significantly higher than those in castrated rats and resembled those in sham-castrated rats, suggesting that 5alphaDHT was probably more potent than testosterone in preventing the decrease in NOS I mRNA levels elicited by castration. These results show that NOS I can be positively regulated by androgens and are consistent with the suggestion that these steroids play a role in the physiological processes of penile erection.
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PMID:Androgens modulate nitric oxide synthase messenger ribonucleic acid expression in neurons of the major pelvic ganglion in the rat. 923 55

Interleukin (IL)-1beta is a pleiotropic cytokine implicated in a variety of activities, including damage of insulin-producing cells, brain injury, or neuromodulatory responses. Many of these effects are mediated by nitric oxide (NO) produced by the induction of NO synthase (iNOS) expression. We report here that IL-1beta provokes a marked repression of genes, such as fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) and hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT), having a CpG island in their promoter region. This effect can be fully prevented by iNOS inhibitors and is dependent on DNA methylation. NO donors also cause FMR1 and HPRT gene silencing. NO-induced methylation of FMR1 CpG island can be reverted by demethylating agents which, in turn, produce the recovery of gene expression. The effects of IL-1beta and NO appear to be exerted through activation of DNA methyltransferase (DNA MeTase). Although exposure of the cells to NO does not increase DNA MeTase gene expression, the activity of the enzyme selectively increases when NO is applied directly on a nuclear protein extract. These findings reveal a previously unknown effect of IL-1beta and NO on gene expression, and demonstrate a novel pathway for gene silencing based on activation of DNA MeTase by NO and acute modification of CpG island methylation.
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PMID:Methylation-dependent gene silencing induced by interleukin 1beta via nitric oxide production. 1058 50

Mutatect MN-11 is a tumor line that can be grown subcutaneously in syngeneic C57BL/6 mice. The frequency of spontaneously arising mutants at the hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (Hprt) locus was observed to be elevated as a result of in vivo growth. The objective of the present study was to identify factors in the tumor microenvironment that might explain this increase in mutant frequency (MF). When tumors were examined histologically, neutrophils were found to be the predominant infiltrating cell type. Quantitative estimates of the number of neutrophils and MF of tumors in different animals revealed a statistically significant correlation (r = 0.63, P < 0.0001). Immunohistochemical analysis for inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) demonstrated its presence, mainly in neutrophils. Biochemical analysis of tumor homogenates for nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity indicated a statistically significant correlation with MF (r = 0.77, P < 0.0001). Nitrotyrosine was detected throughout the tumor immunohistochemically; both cytoplasmic and nuclear staining was seen. To increase the number of infiltrating neutrophils, tumors were injected with chemoattractant interleukin-8 and prostaglandin E2. This produced a statistically significant increase in neutrophil content (P = 0.005) and MF (P = 0.0002). As in control MN-11 tumors, neutrophil content and MF were strongly correlated (r = 0.63, P = 0. 003). Because neutrophils are a potential source of genotoxic reactive oxygen and/or nitrogen species, our results support the notion that these tumor-infiltrating cells may be mutagenic and contribute to the burden of genetic abnormalities associated with tumor progression.
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PMID:Neutrophils, nitric oxide synthase, and mutations in the mutatect murine tumor model. 1066 80