简介：Nitricoxide(NO)isapleiotropicregulator,criticaltonumerousbiologicalprocesses,includingva-sodilatation,neurotransmissionandmacrophage-mediatedimmunity.Thefamilyofnitricoxidesynthases(NOS)comprisesinducibleNOS(iNOS),endothelialNOS(eNOS),andneuronalNOS(nNOS).Interest-ingly,variousstudieshaveshownthatallthreeisoformscanbeinvolvedinpromotingorinhibitingtheetiologyofcancer.NOSactivityhasbeendetectedintumourcellsofvarioushistogeneticoriginsandhasbeenassociatedwithtumourgrade,proliferationrateandexpressionofimportantsignalingcomponentsassociatedwithcancerdevelopmentsuchastheoestrogenreceptor.ItappearsthathighlevelsofNOSexpression(forexample,generatedbyactivatedmacrophages)maybecytostaticorcytotoxicfortumorcells,whereaslowlevelactivitycanhavetheoppositeeffectandpromotetumourgrowth.Paradoxicallytherefore,NO(andrelatedreactivenitrogenspecies)mayhavebothgenotoxicandangiogenicproperties.IncreasedNO-generationinacellmayselectmutantp53cellsandcontributetotumourangiogenesisbyupregulatingVEGF.Inaddition,NOmaymodulatetumourDNArepairmechanismsbyupregulatingp53,poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase(PARP)andtheDNA-dependentproteinkinase(DNA-PK).Anunderstand-ingatthemolecularleveloftheroleofNOincancerwillhaveprofoundtherapeuticimplicationsforthediagnosisandtreatmentofdisease.