Although a simple molecule, nitric oxide is an important signal substance that helps to reduce blood pressure by relaxing the blood vessels. But how it goes about doing this has long been unclear. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden now present an entirely novel principle that challenges the Nobel Prize-winning hypothesis that the substance signals in its gaseous form. Their findings are presented in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.
Although a simple molecule, nitric oxide is an important signal substance that helps to reduce blood pressure by relaxing the blood vessels. But how it goes about doing this has long been unclear. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden now present an entirely novel principle that challenges the Nobel Prize-winning hypothesis that the substance signals in its gaseous form.
The NO is formed in the endothelium, the tissue that constitutes the inner lining of blood vessels. For almost 40 years, the hypothesis has been that it then diffuses as a gas, spreading out randomly until it encounters an enzyme called guanylyl cyclase in the, upon which the vessel relaxes. It is a journey over a distance of less than a millimeter, but it is a long way for a molecule.
Since it has also been difficult to demonstrate the presence of free NO in the cells, the actual signaling mechanism has long been a mystery.
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