Nitric oxide (NO)-sensitive (soluble) guanylyl cyclase (GTP diphosphate-lyase (cyclising)), E.C. 4.6.1.2, is a heterodimer comprising a β₁ subunit and one of two alpha subunits (α₁, α₂) giving rise to two functionally indistinguishable isoforms, GC-1 (α₁β₁) and GC-2 (α₂β₁) [9,14]. A haem group is associated with the β subunit and is the target for the endogenous ligand NO, and, potentially, carbon monoxide [4].

ODQ also shows activity at other haem-containing proteins [2], while YC-1 may also inhibit cGMP-hydrolysing phosphodiesterases [3,5].

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Subcommittee members: Adrian J. Hobbs (Co-chairperson) Professor of Cardiovascular Pharmacology William Harvey Research Institute Heart Centre (1st Floor) Barts & The London School of Medicine & Dentistry Queen Mary University of London Charterhouse Square London EC1M 6BQ UK Scott A. Waldman (Co-chairperson) Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Thomas Jefferson University Philadelphia Pennsylvania, USA John C. Burnett, Jr. Division of Cardiovascular Disease Mayo Clinic Rochester MN USA John Garthwaite Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research University College London Gower Street London WC1E 6BT UK Doris Koesling Institut für Pharmakologie und Toxikologie Medizinische Fakultät Ruhr-Universität Bochum 44780 Bochum, Germany Michaela Kuhn Physiologisches Institut der Universität Würzburg Würzburg Germany Lincoln R. Potter Molecular Biology and Biophysics University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA Michael Russwurm Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology Ruhr University Bochum Bochum, Germany Harald H.H.W. Schmidt Department of Pharmacology Maastricht University Maastricht The Netherlands Johannes-Peter Stasch Cardiovascular Research Bayer AG Wuppertal, Germany

Other contributors: Annie Beuve Department of Pharmacology Physiology and Neuroscience Rutgers Medical School New Jersey, USA Peter Brouckaert Laboratory for Molecular Pathology and Experimental Therapy Inflammation Research Center Ghent, Belgium Andreas Friebe Physiologisches Institut Röntgenring 9 Würzburg, Germany