title: Variations of brain endothelial nitric oxide synthase concentration in rat and mouse cortex.
abstract: No information exists on the differences of eNOS concentration in brain tissue, [eNOS](br), between animals during normal and hypotensive blood pressure and both between and within animals during moderate hypotension. To address these questions, we modified a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit for determining murine [eNOS](br) since no method exists to measure [eNOS](br). Optimization of the kit ELISA procedure using brain cortex homogenates from 3 normotensive rats and 1 wild-type and 1 eNOS(-/-) (ko) mouse included recovery evaluation for each sample and the use of an "eNOS-free" homogenate calibrator diluent obtained from a mutant eNOS-ko mouse. Initial spike-and-recovery values of 12.5-27% suggesting a substantial sample matrix effect were improved with lipid removal treatment to 37.3% and to 70% with 1:20 dilution of the sample. Calibration standards prepared using eNOS-free buffer increased recovery values to 78% in micro-punch samples. The optimized ELISA was used in micro-punch (<1mg) brain cortex samples from 6 hypotensive rats. Whole brain [eNOS](br) varied considerably from 5-11fmol/mg wet weight and was different between normo- and hypotensive animals (p=0.023). The variability of [eNOS](br) due to moderate hypotension in micro-punch rat brain cortex samples was composed of both between (24%) and within (76%) animal components. The differences and variability of [eNOS](br) between normo- and hypotensive animals, and between and within hypotensive animals suggests the potential utility of its measurement for investigations of cerebrovascular physiology and that [eNOS](br) itself could be an important factor in cerebrovascular regulation.
authors: Department of Anesthesiology, Allegheny-Singer Research Institute, Pittsburgh, PA 15212, USA.
authors: R Kenneth
authors: RK
authors: Czambel
authors: Alexander
authors: A
authors: Kharlamov
authors: Stephen C
authors: SC
authors: Jones
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology*; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000201:enzymology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III / Q000032:analysis*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III