B. Brune et al.: Protein Thiol Modification and Apoptotic Cell Death as cGMP-Independent Nitric Oxide. H. Esterbauer and P. Ramos: Chemistry and Pathophysiology of Oxidation of LDL. C. Gotz and M. Montenarh: DNA Damage, DNA Repair, and Apoptosis. E.R. Werner et al.: Biosynthesis of Nitric Oxide: Dependence on Pteridine Metabolism. R. Bernhardt: Cytochrome P450: Structure, Function, and Generation of Reactive Oxygen Species. B. Epe. DNA Damage Profiles Induced by Oxidizing Agents

The objectives in this special issue are (1) to critically review current information on the mechanisms coupling extracellular regulatory signals to regulation of cross-bridge cycling and proliferation in smooth muscle, and (2) identify significant gaps or unresolved issues that are important topics for future research. The experimental and analytical difficulties discussed above are increasingly recognized and surmounted. Elucidation of the molecular and cellular events underlying the biologal properties of smooth muscle is in the midst of a period of rapid progress. While the reviews reveal...

Special Issue on the Tird Filament System

This special volume provides up-to-date information on research dealing with the regulation of the biosynthesis and degradation of cyclic GMP and with the regulation of physiological systems by cyclic GMP. The publication of this volume could not have come at a more appropriate time, with significant work in this area having led to our current understanding of the role of nitric oxide in signal transduction, and the 1998 Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology for Furchgott, Murad and Ignarro.
Moreover, the introduction in early 1998 of sildenafil (Viagra), a selective inhibitor of a cyclic...