Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UNIPROT:P21554 (cannabinoid receptor)
 3,582 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Anandamide (arachidonoyl-ethanolamide, AnNH) and 2-arachidonoyl-glycerol (2-AG) have been suggested to act as endogenous agonists at the brain cannabinoid receptor, and their biosynthetic and degradative mechanisms in nervous tissues and cells have also been partially elucidated. Here we present evidence for the presence, in mouse N18TG2 neuroblastoma cells, of enzymatic activities potentially responsible for the biosynthesis of AnNH and 2-AG from a common phospholipid precursor. Cell homogenates were shown to catalyze: (a) the transfer of an arachidonoyl moiety from the sn-1 position of sn-1,2-di-arachidonoyl-phosphatidylcholine (AAPC) to phosphatidyl-ethanolamine (PE) to form N-arachidonoyl-PE (N-ArPE) and sn-1-lyso-2-arachidonoyl-PC (lyso-APC), (b) the hydrolysis of N-AtPE to AnNH, (c) the hydrolysis of lyso-APC to 2-AG, (d) the hydrolysis of AAPC to sn-1,2-di-arachidonoyl-glycerol (AAG), and (e) the hydrolysis of AAG to 2-AG. From these findings it is possible to suggest that AAPC may serve as precursor for both AnNH and 2-AG biosynthesis through three different pathways.
 ...
PMID:Potential biosynthetic connections between the two cannabimimetic eicosanoids, anandamide and 2-arachidonoyl-glycerol, in mouse neuroblastoma cells. 885 37

In this study, we show that Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the major psychoactive component of marijuana, suppresses host immune reactivity against lung cancer. In two different weakly immunogenic murine lung cancer models, intermittent administration of THC (5 mg/kg, four times/wk i.p. for 4 wk) led to accelerated growth of tumor implants compared with treatment with diluent alone. In contrast to our findings in immunocompetent mice, THC did not affect tumor growth in tumor-bearing SCID mice. The immune inhibitory cytokines, IL-10 and TGF-beta, were augmented, while IFN-gamma was down-regulated at both the tumor site and in the spleens of THC-treated mice. Administration of either anti-IL-10- or anti-TGF-beta-neutralizing Abs prevented the THC-induced enhancement in tumor growth. Both APC and T cells from THC-treated mice showed limited capacities to generate alloreactivity. Furthermore, lymphocytes from THC-treated mice transferred the effect to normal mice, resulting in accelerated tumor growth similar to that seen in the THC-treated mice. THC decreased tumor immunogenicity, as indicated by the limited capacity for tumor-immunized, THC-treated mice to withstand tumor rechallenge. In vivo administration of a specific antagonist of the CB2 cannabinoid receptor also blocked the effects of THC. Our findings suggest the THC promotes tumor growth by inhibiting antitumor immunity by a CB2 receptor-mediated, cytokine-dependent pathway.
 ...
PMID:Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol inhibits antitumor immunity by a CB2 receptor-mediated, cytokine-dependent pathway. 1086 Oct 74