title: Gene expression of two kinds of constitutive nitric oxide synthase in injured spinal cord tissue.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the gene expression of two kinds of constitutive nitric oxide synthase (cNOS): neuronal NOS (nNOS) and endothelial NOS (eNOS) in injured spinal cord tissue.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-six adult Sprague-Dawley rats were divided randomly into six groups: the normal group and the injury groups (2, 6, 12, 24, 48 h after injury, respectively). A compression injury model of the spinal cord wa s ma de and gene expression of nNOS and eNOS were examined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The gene expression of nNOS and eNOS was detected in the normal group and they were up-regulated quickly after injury, reaching the maximum at 6 h. There was no difference between gene expression of nNOS and eNO S in the normal group, but in each injury group the gene expression of eNOS was much higher than that of nNOS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Expression of constitutive NOS (cNOS) in spinal co rd tissue was up-regulated after injury mainly in the early stage. cNOS as a wh ole offers protection in spinal cord injury, but different cNOS may play different roles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Zhujiang Hospital, First Military Medical University, Guangzhou 510282, China. lclong@mail.china.com
authors.forename: Chenglong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Anmin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Chusong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Shaoxiong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Min
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015870:Gene Expression; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000235:genetics*; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; C496318:Nos2 protein, rat