Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound   Target Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound

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Query: EC:4.6.1.2 (guanylate cyclase)
8,497 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The distribution of guanylate cyclase, phosphodiesterase, and NADPH-diaphorase [nitric oxide (NO) synthase] was studied in rat brain both at the light and electron microscopic level with special emphasis on the vascular system. We showed that the cGMP-generating enzyme is located in cells (glial cells and pericytes) surrounding cerebral vessels, but not in the endothelium. For NO synthase, a dual localization was observed. The enzyme is present in parts of the endothelium and in nerve endings apparently innervating larger brain vessels. We propose, therefore, that NO acts on guanylate cyclase both from a "synaptic" and endothelial source.
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PMID:Histochemistry of guanylate cyclase, phosphodiesterase, and NADPH-diaphorase (nitric oxide synthase) in rat brain vasculature. 128 93

NO synthase (NOS; EC 1.14.23) catalyzes the conversion of L-arginine into L-citrulline and a guanylyl cyclase-activating factor (GAF) that is chemically identical with nitric oxide or a nitric oxide-releasing compound (NO). Similar to the other isozymes of NOS that have been characterized to date, the soluble and Ca2+/calmodulin-regulated type I from rat cerebellum (homodimer of 160-kDa subunits) is dependent on NADPH for catalytic activity. The enzyme also possesses NADPH diaphorase activity in the presence of the electron acceptor nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT). We investigated the requirements of NOS and its content of the proposed additional cofactors tetrahydrobiopterin (H4biopterin) and flavins, further characterized the NADPH diaphorase activity, and quantified the NADPH binding site(s). Purified NOS type I Ca2+/calmodulin-independently bound the [32P]2',3'-dialdehyde analogue of NADPH (dNADPH), which, at near Km concentrations during 3-min incubations was utilized as a substrate and at higher concentrations or after prolonged incubations and cross-linking inhibited NOS activity. The NADPH diaphorase activity was Ca2+/calmodulin-independent, required higher NADPH concentrations than NOS activity, and was affected by dNADPH to a lesser degree. Divalent cations interfered with the diaphorase assay. Per dimer, native NOS contained about 1 mol each of H4biopterin, FAD, and FMN, classifying it as a biopteroflavoprotein, and incorporated 1 mol of dNADPH. No dihydrobiopterin (H2biopterin), biopterin, or riboflavin was detected. These findings suggest that NOS may share cofactors between two identical subunits via high-affinity binding sites.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent NO synthase type I: a biopteroflavoprotein with Ca2+/calmodulin-independent diaphorase and reductase activities. 137 27

Nitric oxide, which accounts for the biological activity of endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF), is synthesized in endothelial cells from L-arginine by nitric oxide synthase (NOS). We report here the cloning and functional expression of a cDNA encoding human endothelial NOS. Oligonucleotides corresponding to amino acid sequences shared by cytochrome P450 reductase and the recently identified brain NOS were synthesized to amplify a partial cDNA encoding a bovine endothelial cell NOS-related protein. This partial cDNA was used to isolate a cDNA encoding a human vascular endothelial NOS. The translated human protein is 1294 amino acids long and shares 52% of its amino acid sequence with brain NOS. Using RNA blot hybridization, abundant endothelial NOS mRNA was detected in unstimulated human umbilical vein endothelial cells. To determine the functional activity of the endothelial protein, we ligated the cDNA into an expression vector and transfected it into NIH3T3 cells. Cells expressing this cDNA contained abundant NADPH diaphorase activity, a histochemical marker for NOS. In co-culture assays, nitric oxide production by transfected cells increased guanylate cyclase activity in reporter rat fetal lung fibroblasts. In addition, NOS-catalyzed conversion of arginine to citrulline in transfected cells was significantly increased by A23187, a calcium ionophore. Isolation of a cDNA encoding a calcium-regulated, constitutively expressed human endothelial NOS, capable of producing EDRF in blood vessels, will accelerate the characterization of the role of this enzyme in normal and abnormal endothelial regulation of vascular tone.
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PMID:Cloning and expression of a cDNA encoding human endothelium-derived relaxing factor/nitric oxide synthase. 138 4

NADPH diaphorase histochemistry selectively labels a number of discrete populations of neurons throughout the nervous system. This simple and robust technique has been used in a great many experimental and neuropathological studies; however, the function of this enzyme has remained a matter of speculation. We, therefore, undertook to characterize this enzyme biochemically. With biochemical and immunochemical assays, NADPH diaphorase was purified to apparent homogeneity from rat brain by affinity chromatography and anion-exchange HPLC. Western (immunoblot) transfer and immunostaining with an antibody specific for NADPH diaphorase labeled a single protein of 150 kDa. Nitric oxide synthase was recently shown to be a 150-kDa, NADPH-dependent enzyme in brain. It is responsible for the calcium/calmodulin-dependent synthesis of the guanylyl cyclase activator nitric oxide from L-arginine. We have found that nitric oxide synthase activity and NADPH diaphorase copurify to homogeneity and that both activities could be immunoprecipitated with an antibody recognizing neuronal NADPH diaphorase. Furthermore, nitric oxide synthase was competitively inhibited by the NADPH diaphorase substrate, nitro blue tetrazolium. Thus, neuronal NADPH diaphorase is a nitric oxide synthase, and NADPH diaphorase histochemistry, therefore, provides a specific histochemical marker for neurons producing nitric oxide.
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PMID:Neuronal NADPH diaphorase is a nitric oxide synthase. 170 73

A role for the NO-cGMP pathway in mediating chemosensory activation of feeding is suggested by intense NADPH diaphorase staining observed in nerve fibers that project from sensory cells in the lips to the CNS and by the presence in the CNS of a NO-activated guanylyl cyclase. In preparations reduced to isolated lips and CNS, intracellular recordings were made from motoneurons driven by the interneurons of the central pattern generator (CPG) for feeding. Fictive feeding in such preparations can be recorded from these motoneurons following the application of sucrose to the lips. Sucrose activation of fictive feeding is inhibited by the NO scavenger hemoglobin, the NO synthase inhibitor N omega-Nitro-L-Arginine Methyl Ester (L-NAME) and by methylene blue, an inhibitor of guanylyl cyclase. Fictive feeding in isolated lip-CNS preparations can be activated without sucrose by superfusion of NO donor molecules such as SNAP and hydroxylamine and by the nonhydrolyzable analog of cGMP, 8-bromo-cGMP. The feeding CPG can also be activated centrally by depolarizing a modulatory interneuron, the slow oscillator (SO). When the CPG is activated in this way, fictive feeding is not susceptible to inhibition by hemoglobin, the most potent of the inhibitors of sucrose-activated fictive feeding. Behavioral experiments on intact snails confirm the findings from in vitro experiments and show that hemoglobin prevents feeding and methylene blue significantly delays the onset of feeding. These results indicate (1) that NO is a putative chemosensory transmitter in the snail L. stagnalis, (2) that the NO-cGMP pathway can mediate chemosensory activation of specific patterns of centrally generated behavior, (3) that NO is not involved in transmission within the central network of neurons responsible for the behavior, and more generally (4) that a freely diffusing and highly reactive gaseous signalling molecule can have restricted and specific behavioral functions.
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PMID:Behavioral role for nitric oxide in chemosensory activation of feeding in a mollusc. 747 16

Using a reverberatory epilepiform discharge of hippocampal-parahippocampal circuits termed "maximal dentate activation", this study investigated whether the local release of nitric oxide within these circuits functions as an antiepileptic agent. Two nitric oxide synthase inhibitors (L-nitro-arginine methyl ester and 7-nitro-indazole) and a guanylate cyclase inhibitor (methylene blue) were tested, and none had a significant effect on the time to onset or duration of maximal dentate activation. A membrane-permeable analogue of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), 8-bromo-cGMP, caused an increase in the time to onset and a decrease in the duration of maximal dentate activation. The number of neurons expressing NADPH diaphorase activity (a marker for nitric oxide synthase) was also examined after repeated elicitation of maximal dentate activation. After 18 seizures there was a significant, but transient, decrease in the number of hilar/subgranular neurons that were NADPH diaphorase-positive. The decrease was only seen at 1 h after the last seizure. There was no induction of NADPH diaphorase activity. These results are not consistent with the hypothesis that, in hippocampal-parahippocampal circuits in vivo, nitric oxide is released in response to neuronal activity and then acts to terminate the neuronal activity.
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PMID:In the hippocampus in vivo, nitric oxide does not appear to function as an endogenous antiepileptic agent. 749 93

There is growing evidence that nitric oxide serves as a neurotransmitter released from enteric inhibitory nerves in the gastrointestinal tract. The distribution of nitric oxide synthase suggests that nitric oxide may also be a neurotransmitter within enteric ganglia. Since many actions of nitric oxide are mediated by stimulation of soluble guanylate cyclase and a subsequent increase in 3',5'-cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) concentration, targets for nitric oxide in the canine proximal colon were investigated by immunohistochemical localization of cGMP. In the presence of phosphodiesterase inhibitors (M&B 22948, 100 microM and 3-isobutyl-1-methyl-xanthine, 1 mM), exogenous nitric oxide and electrical field stimulation caused an accumulation of cGMP-like immunoreactivity in several cell-types including colonic smooth muscle cells. cGMP-like immunoreactivity was also observed in a subpopulation of neurons in both myenteric and submucosal ganglia. Sequential labeling with the NADPH diaphorase technique showed that 94% of neurons that responded to exogenous nitric oxide with an increase in cGMP-like immunoreactivity were NADPH diaphorase negative. None of the myenteric neurons that responded to electrical field stimulation with an increase in cGMP-like immunoreactivity were NADPH diaphorase positive, and only one submucosal neuron with cGMP-like immunoreactivity was also NADPH diaphorase positive. The electrical field-stimulated increase in cGMP-like immunoreactivity was blocked by nitroarginine (100 microM). An increase in cGMP-like immunoreactivity also occurred in interstitial cells located at the submucosal surface of the circular muscle layer. These cells are interposed between nerve varicosities and smooth muscle cells and may partially mediate neuromuscular transmission. Sodium nitroprusside and nitric oxide also caused an accumulation of cGMP-like immunoreactivity in smooth muscle cells of intramural arterioles and venules. The results of this study further support the role of nitric oxide as a neurotransmitter in colonic muscles, and provide support for the hypothesis that interstitial cells are functionally innervated by enteric inhibitory neurons. The data also suggest that nitric oxide may serve as a neurotransmitter in enteric ganglia.
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PMID:Immunohistochemical localization of 3',5'-cyclic guanosine monophosphate in the canine proximal colon: responses to nitric oxide and electrical stimulation of enteric inhibitory neurons. 750 18

Nitric oxide is a novel signalling molecule in the brain and a potent activator of the cyclic GMP-synthesising enzyme, soluble guanylate cyclase. To determine if stimulation of cyclic GMP formation is a widespread mechanism of nitric oxide signal transduction, we have compared the distribution of the nitric oxide-generating enzyme (nitric oxide synthase) with that of nitric oxide-stimulated cyclic GMP accumulation, throughout the rat brain. The former was done using NADPH diaphorase histochemistry and the latter by cyclic GMP immunohistochemistry following perfusion of the nitric oxide donor, nitroprusside, in vivo. At a gross level, there was generally a good match when the two were compared in adjacent sections. Although the relative staining intensity varied from area to area, in no grey matter region did we observe cyclic GMP accumulation in the absence of nitric oxide synthase staining. In detail, the locations were complementary rather than identical. In some areas, nitric oxide synthase was found in postsynaptic structures and cyclic GMP accumulation in presynaptic elements and fibres; in others, the locations were reversed. Glial cells and their processes also accumulated cyclic GMP in the cerebellum. The results suggest that soluble guanylate cyclase is a major nitric oxide "receptor" throughout the brain. They also support the hypothesis that nitric oxide generated therein primarily functions as a mediator of cell-cell signaling rather than as a conventional second messenger acting within the cells in which it is produced. The types of communication subserved by nitric oxide appear to be extraordinarily diverse.
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PMID:The nitric oxide-cyclic GMP signalling pathway in rat brain. 750 51

Nitric oxide is known to function as a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. It is also known to be involved in the central nervous system excitatory amino acid neurotransmission cascade. Activation of excitatory amino acid receptors causes an influx of calcium, which activates nitric oxide synthase. The resulting increase in intracellular nitric oxide activates soluble guanylate cyclase, leading to a rise in cyclic guanosine monophosphate. The excitatory amino acids glutamate and aspartate are found in the vestibular system and have been postulated to function as vestibular system neurotransmitters. Although nitric oxide has been investigated as a neurotransmitter in other tissues, no published studies have examined the role of nitric oxide in the vestibular system. Neuronal NADPH-diaphorase has been characterized as a nitric oxide synthase. This enzyme catalyzes the conversion of L-arginine to L-citrulline, producing nitric oxide during the reaction. We used a histochemical stain characterized by Hope et al. (Proc Natl Acad Sci 1991;88:2811) as specific for neuronal nitric oxide synthase to localize the enzyme in the rat vestibular system. An immunocytochemical stain was used to examine rat inner ear tissue for the presence of the enzyme's end product, L-citrulline, thereby demonstrating nitric oxide synthase activity. Staining of vestibular ganglion sections showed nitric oxide synthase presence and activity in ganglion cells and nerve fibers. These results indicate the presence of active nitric oxide synthase in these tissues and suggest modulation of vestibular neurotransmission by nitric oxide.
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PMID:Nitric oxide in the rat vestibular system. 752 6

We addressed the controversial role of nitric oxide (NO) in bronchial function by an immunohistochemical study of the localization of NO synthase (NOS) and its effector protein, soluble guanylate cyclase, in rat bronchus. For this study, a monoclonal antibody to the bovine constitutive neuronal NOS was developed and characterized. In Western blot analysis, this monoclonal antibody (anti-NOS antibody) reacted with bovine cerebellum NOS (150 kDa) as well as with structurally different NOSs from cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells (130 kDa) and cultured RAW 264.7 macrophages (130 kDa). The reactivity of anti-NOS antibody was confirmed by immunohistochemical staining of rat cerebellum, arterial endothelial cells, and cultured stimulated macrophages. When the distribution of NOS in rat airway was characterized, the anti-NOS antibody showed immunoreactivity within respiratory epithelium but not in the bronchial smooth muscle. The NADPH-diaphorase staining correlated with the immunostaining. In contrast, a monoclonal antibody to the rat lung-soluble guanylate cyclase immunostained respiratory smooth muscle but not epithelium. This study suggests a paracrine role for NO in bronchial function analogous to the function of the NOS-soluble guanylate cyclase pathway in blood vessels.
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PMID:Immunohistochemical demonstration of a paracrine role of nitric oxide in bronchial function. 752 82


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