The NOX-ROS connection: Targeting Nox1 control of N-cadherin shedding in vascular smooth muscle cells

摘要

The Nox family of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidases is an important source of reactive oxygen species (ROS). They comprise a group of transmembrane proteins possessing six transmembrane domains with conserved binding sites for FAD and NADPH and four haem-binding histidines in the third and fifth transmembrane domains whose function is to produce ROS by transferring an electron to molecular oxygen. This process yields superoxide anions (O_2~-), which can further react to hydrogen peroxide (H_2O_2) or, in the presence of nitric oxide (NO), to perox-ynitrite (ONOO~-). Although ROS can be highly reactive and oxidize proteins, DNA, and lipids, they are now considered important signalling molecules in their own right, modulating cellular processes such as gene expression, proliferation, and migration.