title: Determination of nitric oxide synthase activity in rat, pig and rabbit prostate glands.
abstract: The conversion of L-arginine to L-citrulline by nitric oxide synthase and other enzymes was studied in rat, pig and rabbit prostate glands by incubating preparations of the glands with [3H]L-arginine and measuring [3H]L-citrulline formation. The nitric oxide synthase inhibitor N(G)-nitro-L-arginine, (100 microM) reduced [3H]L-citrulline production in preparations from all three species. The arginase inhibitor L-valine (60 mM) inhibited [3H]L-citrulline production in rat and pig but not in rabbit prostate preparations. Omission of calcium or NADPH significantly reduced nitric oxide synthase-like activity in preparations from all three species but arginase-like activity was not significantly affected. The results indicate that the rabbit prostate contains the greatest amount of calcium-dependent nitric oxide synthase activity, the rat and pig prostates also have arginase-like enzymatic activity and the rat prostate contains an additional unidentified enzyme that converts L-arginine to L-citrulline.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Vic., Australia.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Di Iulio
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Rand
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001119:Arginase / Q000378:metabolism; D001120:Arginine / Q000378:metabolism; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D002956:Citrulline / Q000032:analysis; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*; D019335:Nitroarginine / Q000494:pharmacology; D011467:Prostate / Q000201:enzymology*; D011817:Rabbits; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013045:Species Specificity; D013552:Swine
chemical_list: D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D019335:Nitroarginine; D002956:Citrulline; D001120:Arginine; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D001119:Arginase; D002118:Calcium