Huntington's disease (HD) patients and mouse models show learning and memory impairment associated with hippocampal dysfunction. The neuronal nitric oxide synthase/3',5'-cyclic guanosine monophosphate (nNOS/cGMP) pathway is implicated in synaptic plasticity, and in learning and memory processes. Here, we examined the nNOS/cGMP pathway in the hippocampus of HD mice to determine whether it can be...

The structural elements of the nitric oxide-cyclic guanosine monophosphate (NO-cGMP) signaling pathway have been described in the vestibular peripheral system. However, the functions of NO in the vestibular endorgans are still not clear. We evaluated the action of NO on the Ca(2+) currents in hair cells isolated from the semicircular canal crista ampullaris of the rat (P14-P18) by using the who...

Nitric oxide (NO) acts as a neurotransmitter and neuromodulator in the nervous systems of many vertebrates and invertebrates. We investigated the mechanism of NO action at an identified synapse between a mechanoafferent neuron, C2, and the serotonergic metacerebral cell (MCC) in the cerebral ganglion of the mollusc Aplysia californica. Stimulation of C2 produces a decreasing conductance, very s...

Nitric oxide (NO) from Ca(2+)-dependent neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) in skeletal muscle fibers may modulate vascular tone by a cGMP-dependent pathway similar to NO derived from NOS in endothelial cells (eNOS). In isolated fast-twitch extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles from control mice, cGMP formation increased approximately 166% with electrical stimulation (30 Hz, 15 s). cGMP lev...

BACKGROUND Nitric oxide (NO) is of crucial importance for smooth muscle cell (SMC) function and exerts numerous, and sometimes opposing, effects on vascular restenosis. Although cGMP-dependent protein kinase type I (cGKI) is a principal effector of NO, the molecular pathway of vascular NO signaling in restenosis is unclear. The purpose of this study was to examine the functional role of the smo...

This study was undertaken to determine whether atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP)-, C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP)-, and nitric oxide (NO)-cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) pathways exist in the rat retina. Exposure of the retina to ANP (10(-7)M), CNP (10(-7)M), S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (10(-5)M, SNAP; a NO doner), A23187 (10(-5)M; a Ca2+ionophore), and carbachol (10(-5)M) caused 1.4...

Sato, Yoshikazu, Weixin Zhao, and George J. Christ. Central modulation of the NO/cGMP pathway affects the MPOA-induced intracavernous pressure response. Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol 281: R269–R278, 2001.—Alterations in the nitric oxide (NO)/ cGMP levels in hypothalamic nuclei, including the medial preoptic area (MPOA), regulate critical aspects of sexual behavior and penile ...

OBJECTIVE Endothelial-derived nitric oxide (NO), by increasing cGMP, is a major physiological regulator of vascular tone and of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) adhesion, chemotaxis, and proliferation. Thrombospondin-1 is a potent antagonist of NO/cGMP signaling in endothelial cells. Because endothelial and VSMC typically exhibit opposing responses to thrombospondin-1, we examined thrombospon...