Abstract
Owing to the increased interest in the biological roles of nitric oxide (NO) the use of NO donors is a desired method of delivering NO to the tissues of interest. This article gives an overview of the most commonly used classes of NO donors and their biotranstformation to release NO. A major consideration when choosing an NO donor is the preparation and handling of the compounds. A method has been outlined for the preparation of S-nitrosothiols which eliminates the problem of the overall instability of these compounds both as a solid and in solution. The main aim of this article is to outline the methods used in assessing the ability of NO donors to elicit a biological response in vitro in particular relaxation of vascular smooth muscle and inhibition of platelet aggregation. In addition a method is described for assessing the toxicological potential of NO donors in vitro.
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Tullett, J.M., Rees, D.D. Use of NO donors in biological systems. Mol Biotechnol 11, 93–100 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02789179
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02789179