Molecular mechanisms of damage by excess nitrogen oxides: nitration of tyrosine by gas-phase cigarette smoke.

Nitric oxide (nitrogen monoxide, .NO) plays important physiological roles, but an excess can be toxic. .NO is present in cigarette smoke (CS) at up to 500 ppm, and probably represents one of the greatest exogenous sources of .NO to which humans are exposed. We show here that gas-phase CS is capable of converting tyrosine to 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NO2-Tyr) and dityrosine, to an extent dependent on time of exposure and pH. Glutathione, ascorbic acid and uric acid decreased the CS-induced formation of 3-NO2-Tyr and dityrosine. We suggest that nitrogen oxides in CS can modify proteins in the respiratory tract and may contribute to CS toxicity.