NO-donating aspirin (NO-ASA) is a potentially important chemopreventive agent against cancer. Since positional isomerism affects strongly its potency in inhibiting colon cancer cell growth, we studied the metabolic transformations of its ortho-, meta-, and para-isomers in rat liver and colon cytosolic, microsomal, and mitochondrial fractions as well as in intact HT-29 human colon cancer cells. NO-ASA and metabolites were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography and products identified by mass spectroscopy, as required. For all three isomers, the acetyl group on the ASA moiety was hydrolyzed rapidly. This was followed by hydrolysis of the ester bond linking the salicylate anion to the spacer. The ortho-and paraisomers produced salicylic acid and a putative intermediate consisting of the remainder of the molecule, which via a rapid step generated nitrate, (hydroxymethyl)phenol, and a conjugate of spacer with glutathione. The meta-isomer, in contrast, generated salicylic acid and (nitroxymethyl)phenol, the latter leading to (hydroxymethyl)phenol and the glutathione-spacer conjugate. This metabolic pathway takes place in its entirety only in the cytosolic fraction of the tissues tested and in intact human colon cancer cells, perhaps reflecting exposure to the cytosolic glutathione S-transferase, which catalyzes the formation of the spacer-glutathione conjugate. Thus, the three positional isomers of NO-ASA differ in their metabolism and these differences correlate with their differential effects on cancer cell growth, underscoring the importance of positional isomerism in modulating drug effects.NO-donating nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NONSAIDs) are emerging as an important novel pharmacological class that has already entered the phase of clinical testing. NO-NSAIDs consist of a traditional NSAID to which the -ONO 2 group is covalently bound via a spacer (Fig. 1). Their three main features appear to be enhanced potency, efficacy, and greater safety compared with their NSAID counterparts (reviewed in Rigas et al., 2003;Rigas and Kashfi, 2004). A large body of basic work in recent years indicates that they display novel properties that set them apart from their parent traditional NSAIDs. In view of their envisioned clinical applications, it is becoming increasingly important to know their metabolic transformations by various tissues, especially those that may be targets of their pharmacological action.We have been interested in the use of NO-NSAIDs, in particularly NO-aspirin (NO-ASA), as a safe and effective chemopreventive agent against colon cancer (Williams et al., 2001;Kashfi et al., 2002). In vitro studies using cultured colon and other cell lines indicate that NO-ASA is the most potent among several NO-NSAIDs in inhibiting cell growth (preceding article), which is taken to portend its efficacy in intact organisms. Using an animal model of colon cancer, we and others have demonstrated that NO-NSAIDs, including NO-ASA, are effective in inhibiting aberrant crypt foci, which represent t...