Nitro-fatty acids (NO2-FAs), which are the result of the interaction between reactive nitrogen species (RNS) and non-saturated fatty acids, constitute a new research area in plant systems, and their study has significantly increased. Very recently, the endogenous presence of nitro-linolenic acid (NO2-Ln) has been reported in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. In this regard, the signaling role of this molecule has been shown to be key in setting up a defense mechanism by inducing the chaperone network in plants. Here, we report on the ability of NO2-Ln to release nitric oxide (NO) in an aqueous medium with several approaches, such as by a spectrofluorometric probe with DAF-2, the oxyhemoglobin oxidation method, ozone chemiluminescence, and also by confocal laser scanning microscopy in Arabidopsis cell cultures. Jointly, this ability gives NO2-Ln the potential to act as a signaling molecule by the direct release of NO, due to its capacity to induce different changes mediated by NO or NO-related molecules such as nitration and S-nitrosylation or by the electrophilic capacity of these molecules through a nitroalkylation mechanism.
Keywords: NO release; NO-PTM; Nitric oxide donor; Nitro-fatty acids; Nitro-linolenic acid; Nitroalkylation; Post-translational modifications; Signaling molecule.
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