TITLE: Master's Thesis Presentation: "Activation of Soluble Guanylate Cyclase by Nitrite"

SPEAKER: Anne Jeffers,

TIME: Tuesday July 26, 2005 at 11 AM

PLACE: Olin 103

Soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC) is a known physiological target for nitric oxide. The activation of sGC generates cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), which in turn, regulates many proteins and ion channels. cGMP signaling pathways lead to vasodilation, making it of interest in the treatment of sickle cell disease. Aggregates of sickle hemoglobin cause the long rod-shaped polymers of red cells to form, which cannot move easily through small vessels creating vaso-occlusion and pain crises for patients with sickle cell disease. Nitric oxide (NO) is scavenged by hemoglobin within the red blood cell. Nitrite is reduced by deoxygenated hemoglobin, leading to hypoxic vasodilation. My research has examined a pathway for NO produced within the red blood cell to escape or be exported as an intermediate species when sGC is activated by the reaction of nitrite with deoxyhemoglobin. An intermediate species, which leads to hypoxic vasodilation of the surrounding smooth muscle, is most likely generated and exported from within the red blood cell.

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