title: Chemistry of nitric oxide and related species.
abstract: Nitric oxide (NO) has essential roles in a remarkable number of diverse biological processes. The reactivity of NO depends upon its physical properties, such as its small size, high diffusion rate, and lipophilicity (resulting in its accumulation in hydrophobic regions), and also on its facile but selective chemical reactivity toward a variety of cellular targets. NO also undergoes reactions with oxygen, superoxide ions, and reducing agents to give products that themselves show distinctive reactivity toward particular targets, sometimes with the manifestation of toxic effects, such as nitrosative stress. These include nitroxyl (HNO), the oxides NO2/N2O4, and N2O3, peroxynitrite, and S-nitrosothiols (RSNO). HNO is attracting considerable attention due to its pharmacological properties, which appear to be distinct from those of NO, and that may be significant in the treatment of heart failure.
authors.affiliation: Royal Free and University College Medical School, Centre for Hepatology, Royal Free/Hampstead Campus, Rowland Hill Street, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Martin N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Hughes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D008670:Metals / Q000378:metabolism; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D009585:Nitrogen Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D009589:Nitrogen Oxides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D015538:Nitrosation; D009608:Nitrous Acid / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism; D030421:Peroxynitrous Acid / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D026361:Reactive Nitrogen Species / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D026403:S-Nitrosothiols / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D008670:Metals; D009589:Nitrogen Oxides; D026361:Reactive Nitrogen Species; D026403:S-Nitrosothiols; D030421:Peroxynitrous Acid; D009569:Nitric Oxide; C039900:nitroxyl; D009585:Nitrogen Dioxide; D010100:Oxygen; D009608:Nitrous Acid