NMR and Biochemical Studies of an Associated Protein Inhibitor of Neuronal Nitric Oxide Synthase

摘要

Nitric oxide synthases (NOS) are a family of enzymes that regulate cellular messenger nitric oxide (NO) level. Neuronal isoform of NOS is unique in the family as it contains approximately additional 250 amino acid residues in its N-terminus. This 250-residue fragment is involved in nNOS-specific localization and activity regulation. Recently, an NOS-specific protein inhibitor PIN was identified. PIN is a small protein containing 89 amino acid residues, and it is highly conserved among eukaryotes. PIN specifically inhibits nNOS activity by destabilizing the dimeric structure of nNOS upon binding.