Endocrine Abstracts

Nitric oxide (NO) is a ubiquitous gaseous signaling molecule, many of whose physiological roles are mediated through activation of the soluble guanylate cyclase. At physiological concentrations, NO also inhibits the mitochondrial enzyme cytochrome c oxidase (complex IV) in competition with oxygen. We have suggested that the interplay between these two gases allows complex IV to act as an oxygen sensor in cells and have shown that endogenous NO modulates oxygen consumption unde...

Hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) is an a/b heterodimeric transcriptional complex that mediates a broad range of cellular and systemic responses to hypoxia. Transcriptional targets include genes involved in angiogenesis, erythropoiesis, catecholamine metabolism, matrix metabolism, energy metabolism and cell survival decisions. Whilst HIF-b subunits are constitutive nuclear proteins, both the abundance and activity of HIF-a subunits are strongly inducible by hypoxia, leading to fo...

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The gases nitric oxide (NO) and carbon monoxide (CO) function as intercellular messengers in a completely novel manner, providing a medium of cellular communication quite distinct from the classical neuroregulators. These agents will diffuse according to their physicochemical characteristics, in evanescent 'puffs' with spherical limits, unconstrained by formal cell boundaries. Most work has concentrated on their roles in inflammation and control of the vascular tree, but there...