Cloning and expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase from rat astrocytes

In primary cultures of rat astroglial cells exposure to bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS) causes induction of a Ca 2+ ‐independent form of the nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) enzyme. We have now cloned the mRNA encoding astroglial iNOS using a combination of cDNA library screening and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification with degenerate oligonucleotides directed against conserved regions of all NOS enzymes. The sequence of...