The chemical is nitric oxide, and new findings show it is a messenger molecule involved in a wide range of activities.

There are three basic types of secondary messenger molecules:

Enzymes and adapter proteins are both responsive to various second messenger molecules.

Those messenger molecules are moving in and out all the time, and most of the time they aren't incorporated into the body at all.

Prostaglandins act (among other things) as messenger molecules in the process of inflammation.

PDEs are therefore important regulators of signal transduction mediated by these second messenger molecules.

Inositol - involved with the secondary messenger molecules that facilitate cell division.

Lipid raft formation brings receptor proteins in close proximity with high concentrations of second messenger molecules.

The mechanisms behind these interactions are still waiting to be unravelled, but there are indications that small messenger molecules may be important.

Nitric oxide (NO) is a messenger molecule with diverse functions throughout the body.