N-OMEGA-HYDROXY-L-ARGININE, A REACTIONAL INTERMEDIATE IN NITRIC-OXIDE BIOSYNTHESIS, INDUCES CYTOSTASIS IN HUMAN AND MURINE TUMOR-CELLS

Conversion of L-arginine to L-citrulline and nitric oxide (NO) by NO synthase induced in the murine EMT-6 cells resulted in the release of a large amount of the stable reactional intermediate Nω-hydroxy-L-arginine into the extracellular medium. We have prepared [3H]Nω-hydroxy-L-arginine biosynthetically, and shown that, after its uptake, this molecule can induce cytostasis in NO synthase-deficient P-815 and U-937 tumor cells. This long-lived intermediate could behave as a supplier of NO or other toxic molecules in cell-cell interactions. © 1993 Academic Press. All rights reserved.