|
 |
Nitric
oxide has important and diverse roles in mammalian biology including
cytotoxic immune response to pathogen invasion and intracellular
signaling in the cardiovascular and nervous systems. Metal centers
are primary targets and reactions with dioxygen and other reactive
oxygen species give NOx intermediates that have important physiological
roles. The ferroheme center in soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC) is
the best characterized target for NO. Nitric oxide has also been
reported to inhibit metalloenzymes such as catalase and cytochrome
oxidase, and its vasodilator properties have been implicated in
blood pressure regulation by hemoglobin. Numerous disease states
have been shown to involve the over- or under-production on NO.
This research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.
|
Research
in this laboratory is generally involved with fundamental chemical studies
of systems chosen as models of biologically relevant targets for NO. Reactions
of interest include the formation of metal-NO bonds and the reactivity
of coordinated NO as well as the manner in which NO coordination changes
the properties of other ligands. We are also studying the reactions of
other nitrogen oxides (NOx) with metal centers and the potential biological
relevance of such interactions.