Nitric oxide is inactivated by the bacterial pigment pyocyanin. |
| |
| Authors: | J B Warren R Loi N B Rendell G W Taylor |
| |
| Affiliation: | Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London, U.K. |
| |
| Abstract: | Pyocyanin is a phenazine pigment produced by the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa and found in human lung secretions. Micromolar concentrations of pyocyanin inhibited the bioactivity of endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF) generated from bovine pulmonary-artery endothelium in response to bradykinin. This inhibition was reversed by perfusing the EDRF-bioassay system with pyocyanin-free buffer for 15 min, but persisted in the presence of superoxide dismutase (20 units/ml). When nitric oxide, the major component of EDRF, was passed into an aqueous solution of pyocyanin in the absence of O2, a rapid colour change occurred from blue to pink; m.s. analysis of the products showed that the pyocyanin had been converted into a nitrosylated species. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
|
|
