NOC, a nitric-oxide-releasing compound, induces dose dependent apoptosis in macrophages.

The ability of exogenous nitric oxide (NO) to induce apoptosis in macrophages was analyzed using NOC, a NO-releasing compound, as a source of NO. Exogenous NO was shown to induce apoptosis in a dose dependent manner. Quantitative analysis revealed that the amount of NO required to induce apoptosis in more than half of macrophages exposed was 100 times larger than that for endogenous NO-induced apoptosis. NOC proved to be a convenient and useful tool for investigation of apoptosis related to NO.