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Updated: Feb 11, 2026

Two-photon Imaging of Intracellular Ca2+ Handling and Nitric Oxide Production in Endothelial and Smooth Muscle Cells of an Isolated Rat Aorta
Published on: June 10, 2015
Inhibition by ebselen on nitric oxide mediated relaxations in the rat anococcygeus muscle
Yan Che1, Michael J Rand, Chun Guang Li
1Division of Biosciences, School of Medical Sciences, RMIT University, GPO Box 71, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia.
Abstract:
The effect of 2-phenyl-1,2-benzisoselenazol-3(2H)-one (ebselen) on nitric oxide (NO) mediated responses and NO generation from NO donors were studied in vitro. In precontracted rat isolated anococcygeus muscles, relaxations induced by NO donors, electrical field stimulation and 5-[1-(phenylmethyl)-1H-indazole-3-yl]-2-furanmethanol (YC-1) were significantly inhibited by ebselen (100 microM), whereas responses elicited by papaverine and theophylline were not affected; those by 8-bromo-cyclic-guanosine-monophosphate (8-Br-cGMP) were slightly enhanced. NO generation from NO gas aqueous solution or acidified nitrite was not affected, but that from S-nitroso-N-acetyl-penicillamine (SNAP) was attenuated by ebselen, and the attenuation was reserved by glutathione. Both glutathione and cupric sulphate altered the ultraviolet spectrum of ebselen. These findings suggest that ebselen at high concentrations nonselectively inhibited NO-mediated responses, possibly through inhibiting soluble guanylate cyclase. Ebselen does not appear to directly interact with NO, but it may inhibit NO release from nitrosothiols by a thiol- and/or copper-dependent mechanism.
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