Nitric oxide (NO), which has been recognized as an integral molecule in maintaining homeostasis, plays an important role in host defense against microbes. NO has diverse antimicrobial mechanisms by directly and/or indirectly interacting with microbes. Under the circumstance that there is an urgent need for a new class of antimicrobial agents due to antibiotic resistance, much effort has been made to develop a NO-based antimicrobial agent. In order to make it possible, strategies to store and

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... ease NO in a controlled manner are required because NO has a gaseous property and a very short half-life. In this review, we described NO biochemistry and its mechanisms of antimicrobial activity. In additions, we introduced various NO-releasing systems that improve NO's antimicrobial activity.