At high concentrations, free radicals and radical-derived, nonradical reactive species are hazardous for living organisms and damage all major cellular constituents. At moderate concentrations, how...

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Free Radicals in the Physiological Control of Cell Function

Nitric oxide (NO), the smallest signalling molecule known, is produced by three isoforms of NO synthase (NOS; EC 1.14.13.39). They all utilize l-arginine and molecular oxygen as substrates and require the cofactors reduced nicotinamide-adenine-dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), flavin mononucleotide (FMN), and (6R-)5,6,7,8-tetrahydrobiopterin (BH(4)). All NOS bind calmodulin and contain haem. Neuronal NOS (nNOS, NOS I) is constitutively expressed in central and peripheral neurons and some other cell types. Its functions include synaptic plasticity in the central nervous system (CNS), central regulation of blood pressure, smooth muscle relaxation, and vasodilatation via peripheral nitrergic nerves. Nitrergic nerves are of particular importance in the relaxation of corpus cavernosum and penile erection. Phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors (sildenafil, vardenafil, and tadalafil) require at least a residual nNOS activity for their action. Inducible NOS (NOS II) can be expressed in many cell types in response to lipopolysaccharide, cytokines, or other agents. Inducible NOS generates large amounts of NO that have cytostatic effects on parasitic target cells. Inducible NOS contributes to the pathophysiology of inflammatory diseases and septic shock. Endothelial NOS (eNOS, NOS III) is mostly expressed in endothelial cells. It keeps blood vessels dilated, controls blood pressure, and has numerous other vasoprotective and anti-atherosclerotic effects. Many cardiovascular risk factors lead to oxidative stress, eNOS uncoupling, and endothelial dysfunction in the vasculature. Pharmacologically, vascular oxidative stress can be reduced and eNOS functionality restored with renin- and angiotensin-converting enzyme-inhibitors, with angiotensin receptor blockers, and with statins.

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Nitric oxide synthases: regulation and function.

Focal adhesions are sites of tight adhesion to the underlying extracellular matrix developed by cells in culture. They provided a structural link between the actin cytoskeleton and the extracellular matrix and are regions of signal transduction that relate to growth control. The assembly of focal adhesions is regulated by the GTP-binding protein Rho. Rho stimulates contractility which, in cells that are tightly adherent to the substrate, generates isometric tension. In turn, this leads to the bundling of actin filaments and the aggregation of integrins (extracellular matrix receptors) in the plane of the membrane. The aggregation of integrins activates the focal adhesion kinase and leads to the assembly of a multicomponent signaling complex.

/pdf/focal-adhesions-contractility-and-signaling-ij3wyc7tuo.pdf

Focal adhesions, contractility, and signaling

Somlyo, Andrew P., and Avril V. Somlyo. Ca2+ Sensitivity of Smooth Muscle and Nonmuscle Myosin II: Modulated by G Proteins, Kinases, and Myosin Phosphatase. Physiol Rev 83: 1325-1358, 2003; 10.1152...

https://www.physiology.org/doi/pdf/10.1152/physrev.00023.2003

Ca2+ Sensitivity of Smooth Muscle and Nonmuscle Myosin II: Modulated by G Proteins, Kinases, and Myosin Phosphatase

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.

https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/88/7/2811.full.pdf

Neuronal NADPH diaphorase is a nitric oxide synthase.

The nitric oxide and cGMP signal transduction system: regulation and mechanism of action

Cyclic GMP-dependent Protein Kinase Signaling Pathway Inhibits RhoA-induced Ca2+ Sensitization of Contraction in Vascular Smooth Muscle

Regulation of cardiac contraction by neurotransmitters and hormones is often correlated with regulation of the L-type Ca2(+)-channel current (ICa) through the opposite actions of two second messengers, cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP. While cyclic AMP stimulation of ICa is mediated by the activation of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase, inhibition of ICa by cyclic GMP in frog heart is largely mediated by activation of cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase. The present patch-clamp study reveals that, in rat ventricular cells, cyclic GMP can also regulate ICa via activation of endogenous cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase (cGMP-PK). Indeed, the effect of cyclic GMP on ICa was mimicked by intracellular perfusion with the proteolytic active fragment of purified cGMP-PK. Moreover, cGMP-PK immunoreactivity was detected in pure rat ventricular myocytes by using a specific polyclonal antibody. These results demonstrate a dual mechanism for the inhibitory action of cyclic GMP in heart, as well as a physiological role for cGMP-PK in the control of mammalian heart function.

Ca2+ current is regulated by cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase in mammalian cardiac myocytes.

Distinct and specific functions of cGMP-dependent protein kinases

The distribution of cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase in rat brain has been studied by an immunological approach involving radioimmunoassay and fluorescence immunohistochemistry. Data obtained by radioimmunoassay indicate that cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase is 20- to 40-fold more concentrated in cerebellum than in other brain regions. Immunohistochemical experiments demonstrate that the high concentration of immunoreactivity of the protein kinase in cerebellum is attributable to Purkinje cells. Immunoreactivity in these cells is homogeneously distributed throughout the cell (perikarya, dendrites, and axons) with the exception of the nucleus. No other neurons either in the cerebellum or in other brain regions were stained by antiserum to the protein kinase. Immunoreactivity, however, was found throughout the brain on smooth muscle cells of blood vessels.

https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/78/1/653.full.pdf

Suzanne M. Lohmann

Papers

The nitric oxide and cGMP signal transduction system: regulation and mechanism of action

Cyclic GMP-dependent Protein Kinase Signaling Pathway Inhibits RhoA-induced Ca2+ Sensitization of Contraction in Vascular Smooth Muscle

Ca2+ current is regulated by cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase in mammalian cardiac myocytes.

Distinct and specific functions of cGMP-dependent protein kinases

Immunohistochemical localization of cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase in mammalian brain