nitric oxide
The definitions used in this glossary of terminology either have been provided by the authors of the articles, or have been extracted wholly or in part, or paraphrased from the following sources: The American Medical Association Encyclopedia of Medicine, Charles B. Clayman, MD, Medical Editor, Random House, New York, 1989; Biotechnology from A to Z, 2d Edition, William Bains, Oxford University Press, New York, New York, 2002; A Dictionary of Genetics, 6th Edition, Robert C. King and William D. Stansfield, Oxford University Press, New York, New York, 2002; Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary, 29th and 30th Editions, W. B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia, 2000, 2003; Genes VII, Benjamin Lewin, Oxford University Press, New York, New York, 2000; The Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders, Volumes I and II, Stacey L. Blachford, Ed., Thomson Learning, New York, New York, 2002; The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, Inc., Springfield, Massachusetts, 1997; Molecular Biology of the Cell, 3rd Edition, Bruce Alberts, et al., Garland Publishing, 1994; The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged Edition, 1966; Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, 1991.
DEFINITION:
- nitric oxide
-
A naturally-occurring gas that in the body is a short-lived dilator substance released from vascular endothelial cells in response to the binding of vasodilators to endothelial cell receptors; it causes activation of guanylate cyclase in vascular smooth muscle, leading to an increase in cyclic GMP, which inhibits muscular contraction and produces relaxation. Excesses of nitric oxide are toxic to cells of the central nervous system and also cause the drop in blood pressure seen in septic shock. Called also endothelium-derived relaxing factor .
Used in 5 Article abstracts
Used in 5 Article abstracts