title: Regulation of expression of the endothelial cell nitric oxide synthase.
abstract: 1. Recent studies have provided insight into how the expression of endothelial cell nitric oxide synthase (ecNOS) is regulated. 2. The promoter of ecNOS has several features that are compatible with a constitutively expressed, so-called 'house keeping' gene. These include absence of a TATA box and the presence of Sp1 binding sites located near the transcription start site. The promoter also contains a number of putative binding domains which suggests that it may be regulated by a variety of transcription factor mediated signals. 3. Studies of cultured endothelial cells suggest that ecNOS expression is modulated by shear stress, transforming growth factor beta, inhibition of protein kinase C and the state of proliferation. These experiments indicate that although the ecNOS is a 'constitutively expressed' gene, its content in the endothelium is subject to modest degrees of regulation that may have important physiological and pathophysiological implications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sayegh
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohara
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Venema
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001011:Aorta / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000494:pharmacology; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase