Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: KEGG:D02011 (FAD)
 5,530 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Nitric oxide (NO), which accounts for the biological activity of endothelium-derived relaxing factor, is now thought to play a variety of roles in the nervous system and in immunologic reactions. NO is synthesized from L-arginine by nitric oxide synthase (NOS). There are three isoforms of NOS; type I (neuronal), type II (inducible), and type III (endothelial). The fundamental structure of the three isoforms, which contain calmodulin-, FMN-, FAD-, and NADPH-binding domains, is the same. Calmodulin is already bound to inducible NOS without requiring Ca2+, while the others are Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent. Endothelial NOS is bound to membranes by N-myristoylation, while the other isoforms are soluble. The human endothelial NOS gene has been cloned. It has several highly repetitive regions which could provide potential sites for DNA polymorphism. It might be of interest to examine the relationship between such polymorphism and cardiovascular disorders.
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PMID:Structure and function of nitric oxide synthases. 753 23

During the last decade, a multitude of experimental arguments have led to the concept that EDRF is nitric oxide (NO), a messenger not only involved in the control of vasomotor tone but also in vascular homeostasis, neuronal and immunological functions. Regardless of its origin, endogenous NO is produced through the conversion of L-arginine to L-citrulline by NO-synthase (NOS) from which several isoforms have recently been isolated, purified and cloned. NOS-type I (isolated from brain) and type III (isolated from endothelial cells) are termed "constitutive-NOS" and produce picomolar levels of NO from which only a small fraction elicits physiological responses. These isoforms are regulated by Ca(2+)-calmodulin with NADPH, FAD/FMN and tetrahydrobiopterin as co-factors and reveal a high degree of homology with the amino-acid sequence of cytochrome P450 reductase within the C-terminal domain. Functionally, neuronal-NOS type I is important in neurotransmission (modulation of NMDA receptor), the central control of vascular homeostasis and possibly learning and memory. In the peripheral nervous system, NOS appears to be linked to nonadrenergic noncholinergic (NANC) neuronal pathways. Endothelial-NOS type III is essential for the control of vascular tone in response to the release of endogenous mediators, although shear stress is the major trigger of endothelial-NOS activity under physiological conditions. NOS-type III also contributes to the prevention of abnormal platelet aggregation. NOS-types II and IV (isolated from macrophages) are Ca(2+)-calmodulin independent and are termed "inducible-NOS" since their activation is only promoted under pathophysiological situations where macrophages exert cytotoxic effects in response to cytokines. In contrast with NOS-types I and III, activation of NOS-type II in these cells induces the formation of nanomolar levels of NO which act as a defense mechanism of the immune system. Dysfunctions of the L-arginine-NO pathway have been characterized in multiple diseases (atherosclerosis, hypertension, diabetes, sepsis, cerebral ischemia, etc) and the design of more selective activators/inhibitors of NOS isoforms is a new challenge for the understanding of their pathophysiology and treatment.
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PMID:Nitric oxide: an ubiquitous messenger. 829 80

Nitric oxide (NO) was discovered to be a potent vasodilator, inhibitor of platelet aggregation, and active species of nitroglycerin before the discovery of endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF) in 1980. Subsequent studies revealed that EDRF is NO, and is synthesized by mammalian cells from L-arginine through a complex oxidation reaction catalyzed by the flavo-hemoprotein NO synthase (NOS). NOS catalyzes the NADPH- and oxygen-dependent oxygenation of L-arginine to NO plus L-citrulline in a reaction that requires at least six cofactors including NADPH, FAD, FMN, tetrahydrobiopterin, heme, and calmodulin. NO elicits its known physiological actions by activating cytosolic guanylate cyclase, which converts GTP to cyclic GMP. Endothelial NOS and neuronal NOS are constitutively present and activated by increases in intracellular calcium triggered by endogenous chemicals. NO then diffuses into nearby target cells to elevate cyclic GMP levels and thereby trigger cell function. NOS activity can also be regulated by a negative feedback mechanism involving NO itself. Much greater quantities of NO are produced pathophysiologically by a distinct form of NOS that can be induced in vascular endothelium, smooth muscle and macrophages by endotoxin and cytokines. This high-output production of NO is not regulated by calcium and is cytotoxic by mechanisms involving interaction with iron-containing proteins.
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PMID:Physiology and pathophysiology of nitric oxide. 874 1

Nitric oxide, derived from L-arginine by the enzyme nitric oxide synthase, is an activator of the soluble guanylate cyclase and a cellular messenger. This work demonstrates that, in cat brain, the neuronal constitutive nitric oxide synthase activity is a) NADPH/calcium dependent, b) independent upon exogenous calmodulin in crude brain supernatant, c) significantly enhanced by exogenous FAD and tetrahydrobiopterin (Vmax: 118 instead of 59.4 pmol of citrulline formed .mg of prot.-1 min-1, d) inhibited by calcium chelators and calmodulin antagonist, and e) present in several neuroanatomical structures. Moreover, the Km value for L-arginine was of 11 microM instead of 41 microM in the presence of FAD and tetrahydrobiopterin in the incubation mixture, thus demonstrating that these cofactors are able to stabilize the enzyme-substrate interactions.
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PMID:Nitric oxide synthase in cat brain: cofactors--enzyme-substrate interaction. 879 Oct 99