Nitric oxide synthases in mammals.

摘要: Nitric oxide is an inorganic free radical gas, of formula *N=O (abbreviated as NO). The discovery in 1987/88 that vascular endothelial cells are able to synthesize NO from L-arginine a transcellular signal [1-4] was initially received by most biologists with considerable scepticism. By now, however, the existence L-arginine:NO pathway has been thoroughly documented and its relevance biology slowly being unravelled. All this led appearance new vigorous field research, evidenced increasing number publications relating synthases (Figure 1). This review will describe known biochemical mechanisms involved synthesis also nature these enzymes, their inhibition molecular characteristics. For more extensive reviews about biological roles NO, see [5-7].