title: Role of epithelial nitric oxide in airway viral infection.
abstract: The airway mucosal epithelium is the first site of virus contact with the host, and the main site of infection and inflammation. Nitric oxide (NO) produced by the airway epithelium is vital to antiviral inflammatory and immune defense in the lung. Multiple mechanisms function coordinately to support high-level basal NO synthesis in healthy airway epithelium and further induction of NO synthesis in the infected airway of normal hosts. Hosts deficient in NO synthesis, such as those patients with cystic fibrosis, have impaired antiviral defense and may benefit from therapies to augment NO levels in the airways.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathobiology, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 9500 Euclid Ave., NC 20, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA. xuw@ccf.org
authors.forename: Weiling
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Shuo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Raed A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Dweik
authors.forename: Serpil C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Erzurum
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003550:Cystic Fibrosis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology; D004848:Epithelium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000821:virology*; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000378:metabolism*; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D009569:Nitric Oxide; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase