Abstract
It has been known for many years that excitation in the central nervous system is associated with marked elevations in the levels of the second messenger, cyclic GMP (cGMP) (Drummond, 1983). These are now known to be mediated through the release of the novel messenger molecule, nitric oxide (NO), which functions as a powerful activator of the soluble form of the cGMP synthesising enzyme, guanylate cyclase (Garthwaite, 1991). NO has a number of properties which set it apart from conventional signalling molecules, not least of which is its ability to diffuse readily across membranes and so act on cellular elements located some distance from the site of its formation. As discussed below, the targets for neuronally-derived NO include other neurons and neighbouring glial cells.
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Garthwaite, J., Southam, E., Morris, R. (1993). Inter-Cellular Signalling by Nitric Oxide. In: Fedoroff, S., Juurlink, B.H.J., Doucette, R. (eds) Biology and Pathology of Astrocyte-Neuron Interactions. Altschul Symposia Series, vol 2. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9486-1_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9486-1_5
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