A NEW HYPOTHESIS OF ENDOGENOUS FORMALDEHYDE AS A NOVEL SIGNALING MOLECULE

摘要

Formaldehyde, which is well known as a toxic gas and an exogenous compound, is also produced endogenously via cytochrome P450 (CYP) mediated demethylation of compounds containing the CH{sub}3N or CH{sub}3O functionality. As the similarity to the accepted novel signaling molecules endogenous nitric oxide (NO), carbon monoxide (CO), and hydrogen sulfide (H{sub}2S), we hypothesized that endogenous formaldehyde may be another novel signaling molecule. We first compared the three signaling molecules to give the minimal sense criteria for signaling molecule. Formaldehyde fits with all the criteria. We also proposed the possible roles of endogenous formaldehyde in order to give a basis for further study. Formaldehyde may regulate NO level, can influence the structure of macromolecules such as DNA and proteins at molecular level. This hypothesis may start a new direction in the further study on endogenous formaldehyde.