Electrochemical sensing of angiogenin induced endothelial nitric oxide synthase activity

Abstract

Angiogenesis, formation of new blood vessels, is a complex but critical phenomenon. In particular, it is regulated by different angiogenic factors. Nitric oxide (NO) is also a very well known biological mediator involved in vascular physiology. This study focuses on relationships between the effect of angiogenin, a major angiogenic factor, and extracellular NO release. NO concentration was sensed electrochemically using a fibronectin coated multiple microelectrode array. Angiogenin was shown to increase NO levels, thus triggering nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity. Angiogenin reactive pathway being very complex, we have used various selective inhibitors of angiogenin to investigate the mechanism leading to NO production. Neomycin, an antibiotic blocking nuclear translocation, inhibited angiogenin effect on NOS. This result demonstrates that angiogenin activates NOS by interacting with the cell nucleus.