NO produced by neuronal NO synthase (nNOS) in the macula densa blunts tubuloglomerular feedback (TGF). nNOS activity is strongly pH-dependent. Increasing luminal NaCl concentration increases nNOS activity, NO production, and apical Na+/H+ exchange. Na+/H+ exchange alkalinizes the macula densa. We hypothesized that inhibiting apical Na+/H+ exchange in macula densa cells would augment TGF by blun...

The role of nitric oxide (NO) in traumatic brain injury (TBI)-induced sensory motor function and brain pathology was examined using intracerebral administration of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) antiserum in a rat model. TBI was produced by a making a longitudinal incision into the right parietal cerebral cortex limited to the dorsal surface of the hippocampus. Focal TBI induces profound...

Cells sense and respond to changes in oxygen concentration through gene regulatory processes that are fundamental to survival. Surprisingly, little is known about how anemia affects hypoxia signaling. Because nitric oxide synthases (NOSs) figure prominently in the cellular responses to acute hypoxia, we defined the effects of NOS deficiency in acute anemia. In contrast to endothelial NOS or ind...

We analysed the expression of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) in the mouse amygdalar basolateral complex (BLC) from embryonic day 15.5 to adult, using standard immunohistochemical methods. Our results indicate that each nucleus of the amygdalar basolateral complex displays a distinct nNOS expression pattern, which is established during the ontogenesis with minor changes in the adult. The ...

NMDA receptors (NMDAR) are glutamate-gated calcium channels that play pivotal roles in fundamental aspects of neuronal function. Dysregulated receptor function contributes to many disorders. Recruitment by NMDARs of calcium-dependent enzyme nNOS via PSD95 is seen as a key contributor to neuronal dysfunction. nNOS adaptor protein (NOS1AP), originally described as a competitor of PSD95:nNOS inter...

The molecular mechanism for priapism is not well characterized. Although the nitric oxide (NO) pathway is known to mediate penile erection under normal conditions, we hypothesized that the mechanism of priapism rests in aberrant downstream signaling of this pathway based on our previous findings that mice lacking the gene for endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS-/-) and mice lacking both neu...

The immunocytochemical distribution of the neuronal form of nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) was compared with neuropathological changes and with cell death related DNA damage (as revealed by in situ end labeling, ISEL) in the hippocampal formation and entorhinal cortex of 12 age-matched control subjects and 12 Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Unlike controls, numerous nNOS-positive reactive astr...

Endothelial (eNOS) and neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) are implicated as important contributors to cerebral vascular regulation through nitric oxide (NO). However, direct in vivo measurements of NO in the brain have not been used to dissect their relative roles, particularly as related to oxygenation of brain tissue. We found that, in vivo, rat cerebral arterioles had increased NO concent...

To assess the relative importance of the isoforms of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) in inflammatory pain, we directly compared pain behaviour and paw thickness after intraplantar injection of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) in wild-type (WT) mice and in mice lacking either inducible (iNOS), endothelial (eNOS) or neuronal NOS (nNOS). In mice deficient for nNOS, thermal hyperalgesia was reduced by ...

7-Nitroindazole (NI) is a widely used inhibitor of neuronal nitricoxide synthase (nNOS) used to study the role of the neuronal NO pathway in the nervous system. 7-NI prevents convulsions, including 2-amino-4-methylphosphinobutyric acid (glufosinate)-induced convulsions, in experimental models. Herein, we examined nNOS involvement in glufosinate-induced convulsions and the specificity of 7-NI fo...