S-nitrosylation is the covalent attachment of a nitric oxide group to cystine thiol within a protein to form an S-nitrosothiol (SNO); it has diverse regulatory roles in all mammalian cells and thus operates as a fundamental mechanism for cellular signaling and accounts for a large part of nitric oxide activity. Though SNOs are relevant to many biological disciplines like neuronal, muscular, respiratory, and cardiovascular biology, currently there is no way to measure SNOs that is both easy to use in a clinical setting and accurate in detecting low concentrations; detection is challenging due to the labile nature of the molecules. Low or high concentrations of these molecules could be vital indicators of incoming dangerous issues in the body. A system to easily and accurately measure SNOs could prove useful in preventative treatments. Ultra Violet (UV) light can break SNOs and can be used to measure nitric oxide release, but this method is not fully developed and further research is needed on the potential effect for UV to measure nitric oxide release.
In this study, we aim to explore the feasibility of a novel, noninvasive SNO assay to acquire physiological SNO quantification from the human ear, forehead, or hands and test this new method of analysis. This study aims to help with the currently cumbersome and invasive procedures used to measure SNOs in the body. The proposed activities do not unnecessarily duplicate previous experiments.