The nitric oxide synthase family of proteins

• Published in: Journal of vascular research Vol. 31; no. 3; p. 131
• Main Author: Sessa, W C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland 01-05-1994
• Subjects: Amino Acid Oxidoreductases - chemistry; Amino Acid Oxidoreductases - genetics; Amino Acid Oxidoreductases - physiology; Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Arginine - metabolism; Cardiovascular System - metabolism; Cloning, Molecular; Consensus Sequence; DNA - chemistry; Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; Humans; Immune System - metabolism; Molecular Sequence Data; Nervous System - metabolism; Nitric Oxide - biosynthesis; Nitric Oxide Synthase; Phosphorylation; Sequence Alignment; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
• ISSN: 1018-1172
• DOI: 10.1159/000159039

Nitric oxide (NO) is an important bio-regulatory molecule in the nervous, immune and cardiovascular systems. NO is synthesized from one of the guanidino nitrogens of L-arginine by the enzyme nitric oxide synthase (NOS). To date, several isoforms of NOS have been purified and cloned. These proteins represent a novel family of mammalian enzymes that contain both heme and cytochrome P450 reductase domains. The three prototypical forms of NOS: neuronal, cytokine-inducible and endothelial NOS, are derived from separate genes and are regulated by diverse signaling pathways. The purposes of this review are to highlight recent advances in the enzymology and molecular biology of this important family of proteins and to examine how this information pertains to the regulation of NO production.