Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:4.6.1.2 (guanylate cyclase)
 8,497 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Heme oxygenase (HO) proteins are members of the HSP30 family and consist of 2 isozymes identified to date, termed HO-1 and HO-2. Separate genes encode the isozymes and protein products which are immunochemically distinct, share less than 50% similarity at the amino acid sequence level. Each form, however, shows greater than 90% similarity among species, including human and the rat (reviewed in ref.). Furthermore, these isozymes function in a well-defined role to carry out oxidation of the heme molecule (Fe-protoporphyrin IX) in concert with NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase. The oxidation of heme is isomer specific and results in the formation of bile pigments, carbon monoxide, and iron. The heme molecule constitutes the prosthetic moiety of hemoproteins, such as hemoglobin, myoglobin, catalase, soluble guanylate cyclase, cytochrome b5, cytochromes P450 and NO synthase. HO-1 also known as heat shock protein (HSP) 32 is encoded by a gene which is exquisitely stress-responsive and a host of stimuli that mediate oxidative stress cause induction of the protein both in vivo and in vitro. The HO-2 form shows a unique pattern of regulation from that of HO-1. HO-2 is a constitutive protein and its expression is not affected by the inducers of HO-1 tested to date; rather, the only known regulator of HO-2 yet identified is adrenal glucocorticoids. The two isozymes display vast differences in tissue distribution and under normal conditions HO-1 is present in the whole brain at the limit of immunodetection and is discreetly localized in select neuronal populations. HO-1 protein (approximately 32 kDa) and its approximately 1.8 kb transcript are increased, however, in response to stressful stimuli primarily in non-neuronal cell populations. The heme oxygenase system serves in both a catabolic and anabolic capacity in the cell. In the former capacity, it down-regulates cellular heme and hemoprotein levels. And, as such it inactivates the most effective catalyst for formation of free radicals, the heme molecule. In its anabolic role, as noted above, heme oxygenase produces bile pigments, carbon monoxide, and iron, all of which are biologically active: bile pigments function as antioxidants; the carbon monoxide generated by HO activity has been correlated with the generation of cGMP; and iron regulates expression of various genes, including that of HO-1 itself, as well as transferrin receptors, ferritin, and NO synthase. We used rabbit anti-rat HO-2 polyclonal antibody and HO-2 cDNA to localize HO-2 immunoreactive protein and the 1.3- and 1.9 kb homologous transcripts, respectively, in rodent brain as visualized by histochemical staining procedures. These protocols provide the first detailed description of methodologies successfully used to define the pattern of HO-2 expression at the transcriptional and translational levels in the adult rat brain and glucocorticoid-treated newborn rats. The procedures described herein have the virtue of being non-radioactive, as well as applicability to the systemic organs, such as the cardiovascular system and the male reproductive organs. Visualization of cellular HO-2 expression aids in assessment of potential sites of carbon monoxide, iron, and bilirubin production within the nervous system.
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PMID:Histochemical localization of heme oxygenase-2 protein and mRNA expression in rat brain. 938 81

We reported previously that the flavoprotein inhibitor diphenyleneiodonium sulfate (DPI) irreversibly inhibited the metabolic activation of glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) in isolated aorta, possibly through inhibition of vascular NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR). We report that the content of CPR represents 0.03 to 0.1% of aortic microsomal protein and that DPI caused a concentration- and time-dependent inhibition of purified cDNA-expressed rat liver CPR and of aortic and hepatic microsomal NADPH-cytochrome c reductase activity. Purified CPR incubated with NADPH and GTN under anaerobic, but not aerobic conditions formed the GTN metabolites glyceryl-1,3-dinitrate (1,3-GDN) and glyceryl-1,2-dinitrate (1,2-GDN). GTN biotransformation by purified CPR and by aortic and hepatic microsomes was inhibited > 90% after treatment with DPI and NADPH. DPI treatment also inhibited the production of activators of guanylyl cyclase formed by hepatic microsomes. We also tested the effect of DPI on the hemodynamic-pharmacokinetic properties of GTN in conscious rats. Pretreatment with DPI (2 mg/kg) significantly inhibited the blood pressure lowering effect of GTN and inhibited the initial appearance of 1,2-GDN (1-5 min) and the clearance of 1,3-GDN. These data suggest that the rapid initial formation of 1,2-GDN is related to mechanism-based GTN biotransformation and to enzyme systems sensitive to DPI inhibition. We conclude that vascular CPR is a site of action for the inhibition by DPI of the metabolic activation of GTN, and that vascular CPR is a novel site of GTN biotransformation that should be considered when investigating the mechanism of GTN action in vascular tissue.
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PMID:Inhibition of NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase and glyceryl trinitrate biotransformation by diphenyleneiodonium sulfate. 977 50

It has recently been suggested that, in addition to nitric oxide (NO), carbon monoxide (CO) is an important gaseous messenger which might be involved in vertebrate olfactory transduction because its effects include activation of guanylyl cyclase and the formation of cGMP. As there is no information regarding the presence of heme oxygenase-2 -- the constitutive isoform of the heme oxygenase system -- in olfactory neurons of non-rodent species, we have investigated the distribution pattern of heme oxygenase-2 in the olfactory epithelium of the bovine, a representative of macrosmatics. Localization of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase (NADPH-d) activity of the olfactory epithelium was compared with heme oxygenase-2 and NO synthase (NOS) immunoreactivities in order to obtain possible hints at functional significance. NADPH-d activity was particularly intense in apical dendrites of receptor neurons. It was also found in Bowman glands and intraepithelial duct cells. Less intense, discrete NADPH-d activity was present also at intermediate and basal levels of the olfactory epithelium, corresponding to the layer of receptor neuron somata and basal cells. While heme oxygenase-2 activity mainly occurred in neuronal perikarya, a very intense NOS immunoreactivity, exclusively for the inducible isoform, was detected in the apical dendrites. Ultrastructurally, NADPH-d histochemistry showed distinct labelling of membranes, in particular of endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria and nucleus. The coincident localization of the moderate NADPH-d activity and heme oxygenase-2 immunoreactivity in receptor cell perikarya suggest a functional association between NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase and heme oxygenase-2. In contrast, dendritic localization of NADPH-d activity is topically and possibly functionally related to the presence of the inducible isoform of NOS. The results suggest that both CO and NO may be generated in bovine receptor neurons and thus involved in odorant stimulation. Based on immunocytochemical localization of synthesizing enzymes, NO might be regarded as a direct regulator of transduction related processes while CO might act as a modulator of the initial signal.
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PMID:Heme oxygenase-2 and nitric oxide synthase immunoreactivity of bovine olfactory receptor neurons and a comparison with the distribution of NADPH-diaphorase staining. 1094 53