This century old area of research has been experiencing a renaissance during the last decade, with the annual number of publications on the subject increasing from only one in 1990 to nearly 200 in the late-1990s. This renewed interest is stimulated by the discovery of biological roles of nitric oxide, distinguished by the 1998 Nobel prize, and the recognition that the conversion of nitric oxide into peroxynitrite may play major roles in human diseases associated with oxidative stress and in cellular defense against invading pathogens. Peroxynitrite (ONOO(sup (minus)))is a structural isomer of nitrate (NO(sub 3)(sup (minus))) that contains a peroxo bond. The physiological route to ONOO(sup (minus)) is provided by the combination of nitric oxide ((center-dot)NO) with superoxide ((center-dot)O(sub 2)(sup (minus))), an extremely rapid reaction occurring upon every encounter of these radicals (the upper dot denotes radical species). Both (center-dot)NO and (center-dot)O(sub 2)(sup (minus)) are the oxygen metabolic products simultaneously generated in a number of cell types within a human body. Compared to its precursors, peroxynitrite is a much stronger oxidant capable of oxidizing proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids.
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