scholarly journals Nitric oxide synthase is induced in sporulation of Physarum polycephalum

2001 ◽  
Vol 15 (10) ◽  
pp. 1299-1309
Author(s):  
Georg Golderer ◽  
Ernst R. Werner ◽  
Stefan Leitner ◽  
Peter Gröbner ◽  
Gabriele Werner-Felmayer

The myxomycete Physarum polycephalum expresses a calcium-independent nitric oxide (NO) synthase (NOS) resembling the inducible NOS isoenzyme in mammals. We have now cloned and sequenced this, the first nonanimal NOS to be identified, showing that it shares < 39% amino acid identity with known NOSs but contains conserved binding motifs for all NOS cofactors. It lacks the sequence insert responsible for calcium dependence in the calcium-dependent NOS isoenzymes. NOS expression was strongly up-regulated inPhysarum macroplasmodia during the 5-day starvation period needed to induce sporulation competence. Induction of both NOS and sporulation competence were inhibited by glucose, a growth signal and known repressor of sporulation, and byl-N6–(1-iminoethyl)-lysine (NIL), an inhibitor of inducible NOS. Sporulation, which is triggered after the starvation period by light exposure, was also prevented by 1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo-[4,3-a]quinoxalin-1-one (ODQ), an inhibitor of NO-sensitive guanylate cyclase. In addition, also expression oflig1, a sporulation-specific gene, was strongly attenuated by NIL or ODQ. 8-Bromo-cGMP, added 2 h before the light exposure, restored the capacity of NIL-treated macroplasmodia to express lig1 and to sporulate. This indicates that the second messenger used for NO signaling in sporulation of Physarum is cGMP and links this signaling pathway to expression of lig1.

2007 ◽  
Vol 2007 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eudoxia Kitsiopoulou ◽  
Apostolia A. Hatziefthimiou ◽  
Konstantinos I. Gourgoulianis ◽  
Paschalis-Adam Molyvdas

The alteration of resting tension (RT) from 0.5 g to 2.5 g increased significantly airway smooth muscle contractions induced by acetylcholine (ACh) in rabbit trachea. The decrease in extracellular calcium concentration[Ca2+]ofrom 2 mM to 0.2 mM reduced ACh-induced contractions only at 2.5 g RT with no effect at 0.5 g RT. The nonselective inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase (NOS),NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) increased ACh-induced contractions at 2.5 g RT. The inhibitor of inducible NOS, S-methylsothiourea or neuronal NOS, 7-nitroindazole had no effect. At 2.5 g RT, the reduction of[Ca2+]ofrom 2 mM to 0.2 mM abolished the effect of L-NAME on ACh-induced contractions. The NO precursor L-arginine or the tyrosine kinase inhibitors erbstatin A and genistein had no effect on ACh-induced contractions obtained at 2.5 g RT. Our results suggest that in airways, RT affects ACh-induced contractions by modulating the activity of epithelial NOS in a calcium-dependent, tyrosine-phosphorylation-independent way.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 34
Author(s):  
Caroline Ran ◽  
Julia M. Michalska ◽  
Carmen Fourier ◽  
Christina Sjöstrand ◽  
Elisabet Waldenlind ◽  
...  

Cluster headache is characterized by activation of the autonomic-trigeminal reflex. Nitric oxide can trigger headaches in patients, and nitric oxide signaling is known to be affected in cluster headache. Based on the hypothesis of nitric oxide being involved in cluster headache pathophysiology we investigated nitric oxide synthases as potential candidate genes for cluster headache. We analyzed eight variants in the three forms of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) genes, inducible NOS (iNOS), endothelial NOS (eNOS) and neuronal NOS (nNOS), and tested for association with cluster headache. Swedish cluster headache patients (n = 542) and controls (n = 581) were genotyped using TaqMan® assays on an Applied Biosystems 7500 qPCR cycler. This is the largest performed genetic study on NOS involvement in cluster headache so far. We found an association between cluster headache and one iNOS haplotype consisting of the minor alleles of rs2297518 and rs2779249 (p = 0.022). In addition, one of the analyzed nNOS variants, rs2682826, was associated with reported triptan use (p = 0.039). Our data suggest that genetic variants in NOS genes do not have a strong influence on cluster headache pathophysiology, but that certain combinations of genetic variants in NOS genes may influence the risk of developing the disorder or triptan use.


2002 ◽  
Vol 283 (6) ◽  
pp. G1360-G1367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Calatayud ◽  
Eugenia García-Zaragozá ◽  
Carlos Hernández ◽  
Elsa Quintana ◽  
Vicente Felipo ◽  
...  

A single intraperitoneal injection of endotoxin (40 μg/kg) significantly delayed gastric emptying of a solid nutrient meal. Blockade of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) with 30 mg/kg ip N G-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester or 20 mg/kg ip 7-nitroindazole [neuronal NOS (nNOS) inhibitor] significantly delayed gastric emptying in control animals but failed to modify gastric emptying in endotoxin-treated rats. Administration of 2.5, 5, and 10 mg/kg ip N 6-iminoethyl-l-lysine [inducible NOS (iNOS) inhibitor] had no effect in either experimental group. Indomethacin (5 mg/kg sc), NS-398 (cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor; 10 mg/kg ip), and dexamethasone (10 mg/kg sc) but not quinacrine (20 mg/kg ip) significantly prevented delay in gastric emptying induced by endotoxin but failed to modify gastric emptying in vehicle-treated animals. Ca2+-dependent NOS activity in the antrum pylorus of the stomach was diminished by endotoxin, whereas Ca2+-independent NOS activity was not changed. In addition, decreased nNOS mRNA and protein were observed in the antrum pylorus of endotoxin-treated rats. Our results suggest that downregulation of nNOS in the antrum pylorus of the stomach and synthesis of prostaglandins mediate the delay in gastric emptying of a solid nutrient meal induced by endotoxin.


2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (18) ◽  
pp. 4083-4090 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascale F. Dijkers ◽  
Patrick H. O'Farrell

Befitting oxygen's key role in life's processes, hypoxia engages multiple signaling systems that evoke pervasive adaptations. Using surrogate genetics in a powerful biological model, we dissect a poorly understood hypoxia-sensing and signal transduction system. Hypoxia triggers NO-dependent accumulation of cyclic GMP and translocation of cytoplasmic GFP-Relish (an NFκB/Rel transcription factor) to the nucleus in Drosophila S2 cells. An enzyme capable of eliminating NO interrupted signaling specifically when it was targeted to the mitochondria, arguing for a mitochondrial NO signal. Long pretreatment with an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase (NOS), L-NAME, blocked signaling. However, addition shortly before hypoxia was without effect, suggesting that signaling is supported by the prior action of NOS and is independent of NOS action during hypoxia. We implicated the glutathione adduct, GSNO, as a signaling mediator by showing that overexpression of the cytoplasmic enzyme catalyzing its destruction, GSNOR, blocks signaling, whereas knockdown of this activity caused reporter translocation in the absence of hypoxia. In downstream steps, cGMP accumulated, and calcium-dependent signaling was subsequently activated via cGMP-dependent channels. These findings reveal the use of unconventional steps in an NO pathway involved in sensing hypoxia and initiating signaling.


2000 ◽  
Vol 279 (5) ◽  
pp. C1495-C1505 ◽  
Author(s):  
George I. Gorodeski

Estrogen increases baseline transepithelial permeability across CaSki cultures and augments the increase in permeability in response to hypertonic gradients. In estrogen-treated cells, lowering cytosolic calcium abrogated the hypertonicity-induced augmented increase in permeability and decreased baseline permeability to a greater degree than in estrogen-deprived cells. Steady-state levels of cytosolic calcium in estrogen-deprived cells were higher than in estrogen-treated cells. Increases in extracellular calcium increased cytosolic calcium more in estrogen-deprived cells than in estrogen-treated cells. However, in estrogen-treated cells, increasing cytosolic calcium was associated with greater increases in permeability in response to hypertonic gradients than in estrogen-deprived cells. Lowering cytosolic calcium blocked the estrogen-induced increase in nitric oxide (NO) release and in the in vitro conversion of l-[3H]arginine to l-[3H]citrulline. Treatment with estrogen upregulated mRNA of the NO synthase isoform endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). These results indicate that cytosolic calcium mediates the responses to estrogen and suggest that the estrogen increase in permeability and the augmented increase in permeability in response to hypertonicity involve an increase in NO synthesis by upregulation of the calcium-dependent eNOS.


2007 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 1133-1137 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Murphy ◽  
C.L. Gibson

Cerebral ischaemia results in the activation of three isoforms of NOS (nitric oxide synthase) that contribute to the development of and recovery from stroke pathology. This review discusses, in particular, the role of the transcriptionally activated NOS-2 (inducible NOS) isoform and summarizes the outcomes of experimental stroke studies with regard to the therapeutic utility of nitric oxide donors and NOS inhibitors.


1997 ◽  
Vol 93 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baimeng Zhang ◽  
Kenneth R. Knight ◽  
Bruce Dowsing ◽  
Elizabeth Guida ◽  
Long H. Phan ◽  
...  

1. The effects of the nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitors, NG-nitro-l-arginine-methyl ester (l-NAME), nitroiminoethyl-l-ornithine and S-methylisothiourea on skeletal muscle survival following 2 h of tourniquet ischaemia and 24 h of reperfusion were compared with those of the antiinflammatory steroid, dexamethasone. 2. Administration of each of the NOS inhibitors or dexamethasone 30 min before reperfusion reduced the degree of skeletal muscle necrosis 24 h after reperfusion. 3. The influence of timing of drug administration was investigated. l-NAME administered 30 min before reperfusion, at 3 h after reperfusion, but not thereafter, significantly improved muscle survival compared with saline-treated controls. Dexamethasone administered 30 min before, or at 3 or 8 h after reperfusion, but not at 16 h, significantly improved muscle survival, but neither agent had protective effects when administered before ischaemia. 4. After 8 h of reperfusion of ischaemic skeletal muscle, cell-free homogenates contained Ca2+-independent (inducible) NOS activity which was reduced in dexamethasone-treated (2.5 mg/kg) rats. Furthermore, inducible NOS mRNA levels, as detected by reverse transcriptase-PCR, were increased after 8 h of reperfusion in saline, but not in dexamethasone-treated rats. 5. These data suggest a significant deleterious effect of endogenous NO which may be restricted to the first 3 h of the reperfusion phase of ischaemia-reperfusion injury, and raise the possibility of effective treatment of incipient reperfusion injury, even after several hours of reperfusion.


1997 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 789 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Wiszniewska ◽  
Rafal Kurzawa ◽  
Andrzej Ciechanowicz ◽  
Boguslaw Machalinski

The expression of mRNA for inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in rat epithelial cells of epididymis was investigated with reverse transcription followed by polymerase chain reaction. Immunocytochemical reaction for iNOS was performed to confirm the enzyme’ s localization in the epididymal epithelium. Additionally, an indirect spectrophotometric method for nitric oxide (NO) determination was applied for measurement of nitrite production by cultured epididymal epithelial cells. Inducible NOS mRNA was detected in freshly isolated epithelial cells, in cultured cells without stimulation as well as in cultured cells after stimulation by lipopolysaccharide and interferon-gamma. Inducible NOS immunoreactivity was observed in the apical part of epithelial cells of epididymal sections and in the cytoplasm of cells in culture. Release of nitrite was observedin vitro in both the unstimulated and stimulated cells of caput (1·44 ± 0·94 v. 4·37 ± 2·42 µM) and cauda (0·69 ± 1·21 v. 5·21 ± 2·76 µM) epididymis (P < 0·001). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate iNOS in the epididymal epithelial cells of the rat. Nitric oxide released by epididymal epithelial cells may act on cells and tissues located nearby. The results may help explain epididymal function: sperm storage, passage and maturation. Excessive epididymal NO production may also play a role in the inflammatory infertility of the male. Extra keyword: iNOS


2001 ◽  
Vol 281 (5) ◽  
pp. G1264-G1270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Flavia Mulè ◽  
Maria Giuliana Vannucchi ◽  
Letizia Corsani ◽  
Rosa Serio ◽  
Maria Simonetta Faussone-Pellegrini

The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether alterations in the distribution and/or function of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) could be involved in the development of the spontaneous mechanical tone observed in colon from dystrophic ( mdx) mice. By recording the intraluminal pressure of isolated colon from normal mice, we showed that N ω-nitro- l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME) increased the tone, even in the presence of tetrodotoxin. The effect was prevented by l-arginine, nifedipine, or Ca2+-free solution. In colon from mdx mice, l-NAME was ineffective. Immunohistochemistry revealed that the presence and distribution of neuronal (nNOS), endothelial, and inducible NOS isoforms in smooth muscle cells and neurons of colon from mdx mice were the same as in controls. However, the expression of myogenic nNOS was markedly reduced in mdx mice. We conclude that there is a myogenic NOS in mouse colon that can tonically produce nitric oxide to limit influx of Ca2+ through L-type voltage-dependent channels and modulate the mechanical tone. This mechanism appears to be defective in mdx mice.


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