The present study examined the role of nitric oxide in cocaine-induced apoptosis in bovine coronary artery endothelial cells (BCAECs). Cocaine produced a time-dependent decrease in cell viability and an increase in apoptosis in BCAECs, which were blocked by the nitric oxide donors DETA-NONOate (DETA-NO) and S-nitroso-N-acetyl-penicillamine. In accordance, cocaine decreased nitric oxide producti...

Myosin phosphatase target subunit 1 (MYPT1) is the regulatory subunit of myosin light chain phosphatase (MLCP). It plays a critical role in vasodilatation induced by cGMP-elevating agents such as nitric oxide (NO). The present study was performed to determine the role of MYPT1 in the development of tolerance of the pulmonary artery to NO. Incubation of isolated porcine pulmonary arteries for 24...

Vascular smooth muscle (VSM) cell migration is a critical step in the development of a neointima after angioplasty. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) degrade the basement membrane and extracellular matrix, facilitating VSM cell migration. Recently, we demonstrated that nitric oxide (NO) inhibits interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta)-stimulated MMP-9 induction in rat aortic VSM cells. In this study, we ...

NO is known to induce expression of heme oxygenase-1, an antioxidant enzyme in blood vessels. We tested whether NO might modulate the endothelial NADPH oxidase function via heme oxygenase-1. In human microvascular endothelial cells, the NO donor DETA-NONOate (0.1 to 1 mmol/L) strongly induced expression of heme oxygenase-1 but not Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase. This was associated with a reduction...

Our objective was to examine the role of an exogenous nitric oxide (NO) donor, DETA-NONOate (DETA), on matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9, MMP-2, and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases (TIMP)-1 expression and activity in interleukin (IL)-1beta-induced rat aortic smooth muscle cells (RA-SMCs) and rat aortic explants (RAEs). RA-SMCs were incubated with IL-1beta (2 ng/ml), an inflammatory...

This study investigated the effect of exogenous nitric oxide (NO) on endothelial glucocorticoid receptor (GR) function. The NO donor diethylenetriamine NONOate (DETA, 50-500microM) caused concentration dependent nuclear localization of transfected chimeric green fluorescent protein GFP-GR and elevated expression of secreted alkaline phosphatase (SEAP) from a glucocorticoid response element (GRE...

In addition to its known action on vascular smooth muscle, nitric oxide (NO) has been suggested to have cardiovascular effects via regulation of red blood cell (RBC) deformability. The present study was designed to further explore this possibility. Human RBCs in autologous plasma were incubated for 1 h with NO synthase (NOS) inhibitors [N(omega)-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME) and S-meth...

Objective. Hypoxia-induced sustained contraction of porcine coronary artery is endothelium-independent and mediated by PI3K/Akt/Rho kinase. Nitroglycerin (NTG) is a vasodilator used to treat angina pectoris and acute heart failure. The present study was to determine the role of NTG in hypoxia-induced endothelium-independent contraction and the underlying mechanism. Methods and Results. Organ ch...

STUDY OBJECTIVES To determine the selective vasodilatory effects of two inhaled "NONOate" aerosols in a closed chest pig model of acute pulmonary hypertension (APH). METHODS APH was induced by IV infusion of the prostaglandin H(2)/thromboxane A(2) receptor agonist (U46619). Aerosolized diethylenetriamine nitric oxide (NO) adduct (DETA/NO, n = 4), dipropylenetriamine NO adduct (DPTA/NO, n = 4)...

Continuous exposure to nitrovasodilators and nitric oxide induces tolerance to their vasodilator effects in vascular smooth muscle. This study was done to determine the role of cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG) in the development of tolerance to nitric oxide. Isolated fourth-generation pulmonary veins of newborn lambs were studied. Incubation of veins for 20 h with DETA NONOate (DETA NO; a st...