Humana Nitric Oxide Protocols: 279 (Methods in Molecular Biology, 279)

It has been more than five years since the appearance of the first edition of Nitric Oxide Protocols. According to Medline, more than 32,500 publications dealing with nitric oxide have appeared in the primary literature in the int- vening time from 1999 to April 2004. These numbers attest to the continuing vitality of a field dealing with a deceptively simple, although extremely int- esting and promiscuous molecule, nitric oxide. Despite its apparent chemical simplicity, nitric oxide continues to amaze, with an extremely wide spectrum of functions and effects. In particular, the last few years have witnessed an explosion of nonclassical effects, involving the direct interaction of nitric - ide and related oxidized products with proteins to yield such novel combi- tions as nitrosylated and nitrated proteins. Another emergent area has been that of NO's clinical applications, including interesting developments related to the virus-mediated expression of nitric oxide synthase and the use of nitric oxide in gene therapy. In Nitric Oxide Protocols, I have gathered chapters dealing with the some of the latest methodologies for the measurement of nitric oxide. Many of these deal with quantitation in biological fluids or tissues, and they cover a wide spectrum of technologies, including capillary electrophoresis, microcoaxial electrodes, the in vivo measurement of nitric oxide in exhaled air, confocal microscopy, gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy, in situ hybridization, and real-time polymerase chain reaction. Review From reviews of the first edition... "...an excellent book...offers newcomers and experienced scientists a wealth of important practical information that will be of inestimable value both to newcomers and experienced research groups...an essential resource for every laboratory involved in NO-related work..." -Angewandte Chemie "...a very useful handbook and definitely a must for researchers working at the bench in any field related one way or another to NO." -Psychoneuroendocrinology "...This book is a must for laboratories with an interest in nitric oxide..." -British Journal of Anesthesia "...will certainly find its way into many laboratories entering the exciting field of nitric oxide research. " -Quarterly Review of Biology From the Back Cover Carrying on the high standards of the much-praised first edition of Nitric Oxide Protocols, Aviv Hassid has brought together a panel of expert researchers and clinician scientists to describe in step-by-step detail the latest methodologies for the measurement of nitric oxide--and the enzyme that produces it-in biological tissues and fluids. The authors take advantage of the latest methodologies for the quantitation of biological fluids and tissues, including capillary electrophoresis, microcoaxial electrodes, in vivo measurement of nitric oxide in exhaled air, confocal microscopy, gas chromatography, in situ hybridization, and real-time polymerase chain reaction. Chapters on the measurement of the novel products of nitric oxide, such as nitrated proteins, S-nitrosylated proteins, and dioxygen-dependent NO metabolism, are also included. Additional chapters address the expression of nitric oxide synthase via the use of viral vectors in gene therapy for erectile dysfunction and cancer, as well as in retrovirus, adenovirus, or adenoassociated virus-mediated expression of nitric oxide synthase in vivo. The protocols follow the successful Methods in Molecular Biology™ series format, each one offering step-by-step laboratory instructions, an introduction outlining the principle behind the technique, lists of equipment and reagents, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. State-of-the-art and highly practical, Nitric Oxide Protocols, 2nd ed., offers investigators and clinican/scientists a gold-standard collection of readily reproducible analytical techniques for measuring levels of nitric oxide and determinin