Ectodomain shedding of cell surface proteins is an important process in a wide variety of
physiological and developmental events. Recently, tumor necrosis factor-α-converting
enzyme (TACE) has been found to play an essential role in the shedding of several critical
surface proteins, which is evidenced by multiple developmental defects exhibited by TACE
knockout mice. However, little is known about the physiological activation of TACE. Here, we
show that nitric oxide (NO) activates TACE-mediated ectodomain shedding. Using anin vitro …