Nitric oxide

Nitric oxide (NO) is a colorless, reactive diatomic gas produced in biological and atmospheric processes. It acts as a signaling molecule in the body and serves as an industrial chemical intermediate.

Nitric oxide synthase: A family of enzymes that produces nitric oxide from L-arginine and oxygen. These enzymes generate NO in cells, controlling where and when its signals begin.
Inhaled nitric oxide: A medical gas treatment that delivers nitric oxide to the lungs by inhalation. It dilates pulmonary blood vessels and can improve oxygenation in selected patients.
Joseph Priestley: An English chemist and natural philosopher who isolated and studied several gases in the eighteenth century. His experiments helped establish the chemistry of nitric oxide, then called nitrous air.
Vasodilation: The widening of blood vessels through relaxation of vascular smooth muscle. NO-triggered relaxation changes blood flow and vascular resistance.
Nitrous oxide: A colorless gas with formula N₂O, used as an anesthetic and greenhouse gas. Unlike NO, nitrous oxide is relatively stable and has distinct medical and atmospheric effects.
Soluble guanylate cyclase: An enzyme activated by nitric oxide that converts GTP into cyclic GMP. It is the principal receptor through which NO relaxes vascular smooth muscle.
Nitroglycerin: An organic nitrate drug that can generate nitric oxide-related signals in the body. Its vascular effects helped establish the therapeutic importance of NO signaling.
Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac: A French chemist known for studies of gases and chemical combination. His gas studies contributed to the early identification and characterization of NO.
Endothelium-derived relaxing factor: A short-lived signal released by blood vessel endothelium that causes underlying smooth muscle to relax. Its identification as NO transformed understanding of how blood vessels regulate tone.
Nitrogen dioxide: A reddish-brown, toxic gas with formula NO₂ and strong oxidizing behavior. NO₂ is a distinct, more oxidized pollutant often formed from NO in air.

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