title: Nitric oxide release and contractile properties of skeletal muscles from mice deficient in type III NOS.
abstract: Skeletal muscle constitutively expresses both the type I (neuronal) and type III (endothelial) isoforms of nitric oxide synthase (NOS). We tested the functional importance of type III NOS using skeletal muscles with similar levels of type III NOS expression (diaphragm and soleus) from wild-type, heterozygous, and type III NOS-deficient littermate mice. Muscles were incubated at 37 degrees C in Krebs-Ringer solution. NO accumulation in the medium was measured by chemiluminescence; force-frequency and fatigue characteristics were measured using direct electrical stimulation. Diaphragm and soleus released NO at similar rates during passive incubation; these rates increased during active contraction. NO release by type III NOS-deficient muscle was not different from that of wild-type muscle under any condition tested. Force-frequency and fatigue characteristics also were unaffected by genotype. Because type III NOS deficiency did not alter function, we conclude that NO effects previously observed in wild-type muscle are likely to be mediated by type I NOS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hirschfield
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Moody
authors.forename: W E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Gregg
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Bryan
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Reid
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002678:Chimera; D003964:Diaphragm / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D006579:Heterozygote; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL / Q000235:genetics; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D018763:Muscle Fatigue / Q000502:physiology; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009154:Mutation; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000378:metabolism*; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000235:genetics; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III; D012016:Reference Values
chemical_list: D009569:Nitric Oxide; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III; C496315:Nos3 protein, mouse