Landar Aimee, Darley-Usmar Victor M
Department of Pathology, Center for Free Radical Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA.
Biochem J. 2007 Jul 15;405(2):e3-4. doi: 10.1042/bj20070590.
Haem is used as a versatile receptor for redox active molecules; most notably NO (nitric oxide) and oxygen. Three haem-containing proteins, myoglobin, haemoglobin and cytochrome c oxidase, are now known to bind NO, and in all these cases competition with oxygen plays an important role in the biological outcome. NO also binds to the haem group of sGC (soluble guanylate cyclase) and initiates signal transduction through the formation of cGMP in a process that is oxygen-independent. From biochemical studies, it has been shown that sGC is substantially more sensitive to NO than is cytochrome c oxidase, but a direct comparison in a cellular setting under various oxygen levels has not been reported previously. In this issue of the Biochemical Journal, Cadenas and co-workers reveal how oxygen can act as the master regulator of the relative sensitivity of the cytochrome c oxidase and sGC signalling pathways to NO. These findings have important implications for our understanding of the interplay between NO and oxygen in both physiology and the pathology of diseases associated with hypoxia.
血红素作为一种对氧化还原活性分子具有多种功能的受体;最显著的是一氧化氮(NO)和氧气。目前已知三种含血红素的蛋白质,即肌红蛋白、血红蛋白和细胞色素c氧化酶,都能结合NO,在所有这些情况下,与氧气的竞争在生物学结果中起着重要作用。NO还能与可溶性鸟苷酸环化酶(sGC)的血红素基团结合,并通过在一个不依赖氧气的过程中形成环鸟苷酸(cGMP)来启动信号转导。从生化研究中可以看出,sGC对NO的敏感性远高于细胞色素c氧化酶,但此前尚未有在不同氧气水平的细胞环境中进行直接比较的报道。在本期《生物化学杂志》中,卡德纳斯及其同事揭示了氧气如何作为细胞色素c氧化酶和sGC信号通路对NO相对敏感性的主要调节因子。这些发现对于我们理解NO与氧气在生理学以及与缺氧相关疾病病理学中的相互作用具有重要意义。