REGULATION OF EXPRESSION OF THE ENDOTHELIAL CELL NITRIC OXIDE SYNTHASE

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Abstract
SUMMARY: 1. Recent studies have provided insight into how the expression of endothelial cell nitric oxide synthase (ecNOS) is regulated.2. The promoter of ecNOS has several features that are compatible with a constitutively expressed, so‐called ‘house keeping’ gene. These include absence of a TATA box and the presence of Sp1 binding sites located near the transcription start site. The promoter also contains a number of putative binding domains which suggests that it may be regulated by a variety of transcription factor mediated signals.3. Studies of cultured endothelial cells suggest that ecNOS expression is modulated by shear stress, transforming growth factor beta, inhibition of protein kinase C and the state of proliferation. These experiments indicate that although the ecNOS is a ‘constitutively expressed’ gene, its content in the endothelium is subject to modest degrees of regulation that may have important physiological and pathophysiological implications.