Rate of transport of l-arginine is independent of the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase in HEK 293 cells.

Expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) is generally accompanied by a parallel upregulation in l-arginine transport which is dependent, at least in part, on the synthesis of new carrier proteins. It is not clear however whether the induction of iNOS and its subsequent utilisation of l-arginine for NO synthesis contribute to the enhancement in l-arginine transport rates observed following induction of cells with pro-inflammatory mediators. To address this issue, we have transfected an iNOS construct in a pEGFP-N1 vector into HEK-293 cells and investigated the effects this has on l-arginine transport.