Nitric oxide (NO) is undoubtedly quite an important intercellular messenger in cerebral and peripheral hemodynamics. This molecule, formed by constitutive isomers of NO synthase, endothelial nitric-oxide synthase, and neuronal nitric-oxide synthase, plays pivotal roles in the regulation of cerebral blood flow and cell viability and in the protection of nerve cells or fibers against pathogenic f...

OBJECTIVES We tested the effects of liver reperfusion in the immunohistochemical expression of nitric oxide synthase on the thoracic aorta and the heart. MATERIALS AND METHODS We randomized 24 male Wistar rats into 3 groups: (1) control; (2) R2 group, with 60 minutes of partial (70%) liver ischemia and 2 hours of global liver reperfusion; (3) and R6 group, with 60 minutes of partial liver isc...

Nitric oxide (NO) plays pivotal roles in controlling physiological functions, participates in pathophysiological intervention, and is involved in mechanisms underlying beneficial or untoward actions of therapeutic agents. Endogenous nitric oxide is formed by three isoforms of nitric oxide synthase: endothelial, neurogenic and inducible. The former two are constitutively present mainly in the en...

A growing body of evidence has shown that Fas, a death receptor, mediates apoptosis-unrelated biological effects. Here, we report that Fas engagement with Fas ligand induced activation of Akt and upregulation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase expression without induction of apoptosis. In the presence of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitor wortmannin, Fas ligand, however, induced apop...

26 Vascular endothelial cells express the ligand-activated transcription factor, peroxisome 27 proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ), which participates in regulation of 28 metabolism, cell proliferation, and inflammation. PPARγ ligands attenuate, while loss of 29 function mutations in PPARγ stimulate, endothelial dysfunction suggesting that PPARγ 30 may regulate vascular endothelial ni...

Vascular endothelial cells express the ligand-activated transcription factor, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARgamma), which participates in the regulation of metabolism, cell proliferation, and inflammation. PPARgamma ligands attenuate, whereas the loss of function mutations in PPARgamma stimulate, endothelial dysfunction, suggesting that PPARgamma may regulate vascular en...

Notch signaling is important for tumor angiogenesis induced by vascular endothelial growth factor A. Blockade of the Notch ligand Dll4 inhibits tumor growth in a paradoxical way. Dll4 inhibition increases endothelial cell sprouting, but vessels show reduced perfusion. The reason for this lack of perfusion is not currently understood. Here we report that inhibition of Notch signaling in endothel...

Plasma nitrite/nitrate levels reflect oxidation of formed nitric oxide (NO ) but are not indicative of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) function due to interference by dietary nitrates and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Nitrosyl hemoglobin (NOHb), a metabolic product of nitric oxide, may better correlate with bioavailable NO but it may depend on the activity of different nitric oxide sy...