Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/umls/id/C1518332
NCI: Nitric oxide (NO) has a number of important physiological actions in the cardiovascular system. In the heart, NO plays a role in keeping the vessels open via vasodilation and prevention of platelet aggregation. It also plays an important role in regulating the force and rate of contraction. In vivo NO is released by shear stress of ligands that increase intracellular Ca2+ in endothelial cells. The increased intracellular Ca2+ activates nitric oxide synthase III (NOSIII) by promoting the binding of Ca/Calmodulin to the enzyme. NOSIII, which is resident in the Golgi complex, is transported together with caveolin-1 to the caveolae at the plasma membrane via vesicles. Shear stress signals via a potassium channel and the cytoskeleton, which results in tyrosine phosphorylation of specific proteins, activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, and subsequently in activation of Akt kinase. Akt activation by shear stress, but also by VEGF, activates NOSIII by serine phosphorylation, which increases the affinity o