The Free-Radical Nature of Nitric Oxide Molecules as a Determinant of their Conversion to Nitrosonium Cations in Living Systems

This paper presents new results that confirm our previous inference that the binuclear form of biologically active dinitrosyl iron complexes (B-DNICs) with thiol-containing ligands (glutathione or N-acetyl-L-cysteine) may act as a donor of nitrosonium cations, which are responsible for S-nitrosothiol formation during B-DNIC decomposition in acid solutions under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. The presence of nitrosonium cations within...