It is becoming increasingly evident that nitric oxide synthase 2 (NOS2)-mediated NO/reactive nitrogen oxide species (RNS) are heavily involved in cancer progression and metastasis in different types of tumor.
Interestingly, analysis of genes altered by iNOS-directed shRNA showed that the knockdown of iNOS expression was associated with a significant down-regulation of signalling pathways involved in stemness and tumour progression in colon CSCs.
CD146 expression in vascular endothelial cells was significantly higher than that in IDC, and was positively correlated with tumor progression in IMPC and IDC-NOS.
The dual role of the inducible NO synthase (iNOS) and NO signaling in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a complex and can both promote or inhibit tumor progression.