Nitric oxide (NO) is a membrane-permeant signaling molecule which activates soluble guanylyl cyclase and leads to the formation of cyclic GMP (cGMP). The NO/cGMP signaling system is thought to play essential roles during the development of vertebrate and invertebrate animals. Here, we analyzed the cellular expression of this signaling pathway during the development of the Drosophila melanogaste...

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a complex neuropsychiatric syndrome present in patients with liver disease that includes impaired intellectual function. To develop therapeutic treatments to restore cognitive function, it is important to understand the molecular mechanisms that impair cognitive function in HE. This review summarizes data showing that: (a) cognitive function and learning are impai...

The NO/cGMP signaling pathway plays a major role in the cardiovascular system, in which it is involved in the regulation of smooth muscle tone and inhibition of platelet aggregation. Under pathophysiological conditions such as endothelial dysfunction, coronary artery disease, and airway hyperreactivity, smooth muscle containing arteries and bronchi are of great pharmacological interest. In thes...

The NO and cGMP signaling pathways are of broad physiological and pathological significance. We compared the NO/soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC)/cGMP pathway in human glioma tissues and cell lines with that of healthy control samples and demonstrated that sGC expression is significantly lower in glioma preparations. Our analysis of GEO databases (National Cancer Institute) further revealed a stat...

The signaling pathway of nitric oxide (NO) depends mainly on guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP). Here we report the formation and chemical biology of a nitrated derivative of cGMP, 8-nitroguanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (8-nitro-cGMP), in NO-mediated signal transduction. Immunocytochemistry demonstrated marked 8-nitro-cGMP production in various cultured cells in an NO-dependent ma...

Nitric oxide (NO) production by specific neurons in the prepositus hypoglossi (PH) nucleus is necessary for the correct performance of eye movements in alert cats. In an attempt to characterize the morphological substrate of this NO function, the distribution of nitrergic neurons and NO-responding neurons has been investigated in different brainstem structures related to eye movements. Nitrergi...

SYNOPSIS. The basic elements of the NO/cGMP signaling pathway have been identified in the nervous systems of animals from nearly all of the major phyla. In crustaceans, the NO/cGMP pathway is associated with certain fundamental neuronal processes, including sensory integration and the organization and production of motor behavior. Here I review the evidence for NO synthesis and action in crusta...

Background Persistent stimulation of nociceptors results in sensitization of nociceptive sensory neurons, which is associated with hyperalgesia and allodynia. The release of NO and subsequent synthesis of cGMP in the spinal cord are involved in this process. cGMP-dependent protein kinase I (PKG-I) has been suggested to act as a downstream target of cGMP, but its exact role in nociception hadn't...

Although abundant structural plasticity in the form of axonal retraction, neurite extension, and formation of presynaptic varicosities is displayed by photoreceptors after retinal detachment and during genetic and age-related retinal degeneration, the mechanisms involved are mostly unknown. We demonstrated recently that Ca(2+) influx through cGMP-gated channels in cones and voltage-gated L-type...

The NO/cGMP signalling pathway strongly inhibits agonist-induced platelet aggregation. However, the molecular mechanisms involved are not completely defined. We have studied NO/cGMP effects on the activity of Rap 1, an abundant guanine-nucleotidebinding protein in platelets. Rap 1-GTP levels were reduced by NO-donors and activators of NO-sensitive soluble guanylyl cyclase. Four lines of evidenc...