Folic acid enhances endothelial function and improves outcome in primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. The exact intracellular signalling mechanisms involved remain elusive and were therefore the subject of this study. Particular focus was placed on folic acid-induced changes in posttranslational modifications of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). Cultured endothelial cells were ...

Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) is a multifunctional enzyme with roles in diverse cellular processes including angiogenesis, tissue remodeling, and the maintenance of vascular tone. Monomeric and dimeric forms of eNOS exist in various tissues. The dimeric form of eNOS is considered the active form and the monomeric form is considered inactive. The activity of eNOS is also regulated by ...

This study established an animal model of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. The human endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) gene was transfected into grafted arterial walls to verify transfection efficiency. Forty rabbits were randomized into the following 4 equal groups: 1) eNOS gene transfection group (eNOS group); 2) empty eNOS gene transfection group (empty gene group); 3) con...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE A number of studies indicate that the female gonadal hormone, estrogen, confers protection against cerebrovascular disorders such as stroke. One postulated mechanism for these effects of estrogen is an action on the enzyme endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), which produces the vasodilatory molecule NO. We have investigated the hypothesis that estrogen increases expr...

Accumulating evidence indicates that aldosterone plays a critical role in the mediation of oxidative stress and vascular damage. NADPH oxidase has been recognized as a major source of oxidative stress in vasculature. However, the relation between NADPH oxidase in aldosterone-mediated oxidative stress in endothelial cells remains to be ascertained. The present study aimed to investigate the rel...

Cigarette smoking is associated with impaired endothelium-dependent vasodilation and reduced nitric oxide (NO) in the exhaled air of smokers. To explore the mechanism for the impairment of NO-mediated vasodilation, we studied the effect of cigarette smoke extract (CSE) on NO synthase (eNOS) activity and content in pulmonary artery endothelial cells (PAEC). Incubation of PAEC with CSE resulted i...

The expression of the endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) is dramatically influenced by the state of cell growth. In proliferating cells, mRNA levels are increased 4-fold compared with postconfluent, nonproliferating cells. Nuclear run-on analysis indicated that there is no difference in the transcriptional rate of eNOS in proliferating versus postconfluent cells. The half-life of eNOS mRNA, measure...

OBJECTIVE There has been accumulating evidence demonstrating that activators for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha) have antiinflammatory, antiatherogenic, and vasodilatory effects. We hypothesized that PPARalpha activators can modulate endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) expression and its activity in cultured vascular endothelial cells. METHODS AND RESULTS Bov...

Protein-protein interactions with the molecular chaperone hsp90 and phosphorylation on serine 1179 by the protein kinase Akt leads to activation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase. However, the interplay between these protein-protein interactions remains to be established. In the present study, we show that vascular endothelial growth factor stimulates the coordinated association of hsp90, Ak...