ABSTRACT
Nitric oxide (NO), a noxious unstable gas, a byproduct of automobile exhaust, electric power stations, and lighting, has been discovered in the human body to be a crucial participant in a multitude of functions ranging from signal transduction, neurotransmission, vasodilatation, protein modification, and host defense to inflammation (1,2). Since that discovery in 1987, there has been almost unprecedented intense interest in studying NO roles and regulation. That interest has resulted in thousands of scientific articles and a Nobel prize award for the discovery. Rather than attempting an exhaustive review of the literature, this chapter provides a brief overview of how inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) is regulated, with special emphasis on opportunities for therapeutic strategies targeting iNOS.
