Expression of nitric oxide synthase in the spinal cord in C57BL/6J mice with congenital muscular dystrophy.
Autoradiography with the nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor ((3)H)nitro-L-arginine ([(3)H]L-NNA) was used to quantify NOS in cervical and lumbar spinal cord in normal and dystrophic mice. A single homogeneous population of binding sites was seen in all subregions of the gray matter in normal mice and in the superficial dorsal horn in dystrophic mice. However, in dystrophic mice, two populations were revealed in the deeper dorsal, intermediate, and ventral subregions. Pronounced immunoreactivity for neuronal NOS (nNOS), and weak immunoreactivity for endothelial NOS (eNOS), were revealed in all subregions in normal and dystrophic mice. Inducible NOS (iNOS) immunoreactivity was negligible in normal mice but intense in the deeper dorsal, intermediate, and ventral subregions in dystrophic mice. The higher affinity ((3)H)L-NNA binding site colocalized with nNOS and the lower affinity site with iNOS. It is suggested that expression of iNOS is associated with the pathological changes occurring in congenital muscular dystrophy.
Phul
R K
RK
Department of Physiology, Medical School, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK.
Smith
M E
ME
D000818:Animals; D001345:Autoradiography; D003720:Densitometry; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000096:biosynthesis; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009137:Muscular Dystrophy, Animal / Q000201:enzymology*; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D052248:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III; D019335:Nitroarginine; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000201:enzymology*
D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D007527:Isoenzymes; D019335:Nitroarginine; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D052248:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III; C496321:Nos1 protein, mouse; C496317:Nos2 protein, mouse; C496315:Nos3 protein, mouse