Use of Arginine Analogs as Inhibitors of Nitric Oxide Synthase in Rat-Aortic Rings

Nitric oxide synthases (NOS) are expressed constitutively in vascular endothelial cells (eNOS; 1 ) and can be induced in vascular smooth muscle following stimulation with cytokines and endotoxin (inducible (i) NOS; for review, see ref. 2 ). The discovery and characterization of inhibitors of NOS (3 ,4 ) led to the elucidation of the biological significance of NO synthesis within the vessel wall.