Nitric Oxide in Biology: Its Role as a Ligand

摘要

The intention of this article is to reveal the involvement of in particular inorganic elements and one simple compound NO~· in living systems and to alert chemists to the ways in which they can help our understanding. The inorganic chemist is in danger of letting much of the excitement of this field slip through his fingers. In order to pursue the on-going transformation of biological chemistry into a mixture of organic and inorganic chemistry, such as in this case, he or she must study in some depth biological subjects and use the biological literature. The revelations concerning NO~· outlined here, though yet far from complete, indicate what is unfolding, but nearly all the relevant chemistry is being done outside what are called 'chemistry' departments. Much of the biochemistry of NO~· is not understood and even less is known of that of CO. I hope this article will show that the combination of inorganic and biological chemistries has a very productive future ahead of it. NO~· is now one of the most important messengers in higher living organisms.