Nitric Oxide Signaling in Health and Disease

Abstract

Nitric oxide has become one of the most studied molecules in medical history. Almost 30 years after the discovery of endothelium-derived relaxing factor as nitric oxide, there are now over 150,000 published papers on the chemistry and biology of nitric oxide. Over the past 30 years, we have learned much more about the production and regulation of NO as a ubiquitous signaling molecule in humans and other life forms. The first signaling pathway discovered from the oxidation of l-arginine and subsequent activation of soluble guanylyl cyclase by NO may only represent a fraction of the biological effects of NO. Understanding all the signaling aspects of NO will allow for better development of diagnostics and therapeutics.