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      Brain CB 2 Receptors: Implications for Neuropsychiatric Disorders

      review-article
      1 , * , 2
      Pharmaceuticals
      MDPI
      endocannabinoid, CB(2), depression, stress, schizophrenia, neurophysiology

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          Abstract

          Although previously thought of as the peripheral cannabinoid receptor, it is now accepted that the CB 2 receptor is expressed in the central nervous system on microglia, astrocytes and subpopulations of neurons. Expression of the CB 2 receptor in the brain is significantly lower than that of the CB 1 receptor. Conflicting findings have been reported on the neurological effects of pharmacological agents targeting the CB 2 receptor under normal conditions. Under inflammatory conditions, CB 2 receptor expression in the brain is enhanced and CB 2 receptor agonists exhibit potent anti-inflammatory effects. These findings have prompted research into the CB 2 receptor as a possible target for the treatment of neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative disorders. Neuroinflammatory alterations are also associated with neuropsychiatric disorders and polymorphisms in the CB 2 gene have been reported in depression, eating disorders and schizophrenia. This review will examine the evidence to date for a role of brain CB 2 receptors in neuropsychiatric disorders.

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          Most cited references216

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          Molecular characterization of a peripheral receptor for cannabinoids.

          The major active ingredient of marijuana, delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta 9-THC), has been used as a psychoactive agent for thousands of years. Marijuana, and delta 9-THC, also exert a wide range of other effects including analgesia, anti-inflammation, immunosuppression, anticonvulsion, alleviation of intraocular pressure in glaucoma, and attenuation of vomiting. The clinical application of cannabinoids has, however, been limited by their psychoactive effects, and this has led to interest in the biochemical bases of their action. Progress stemmed initially from the synthesis of potent derivatives of delta 9-THC, and more recently from the cloning of a gene encoding a G-protein-coupled receptor for cannabinoids. This receptor is expressed in the brain but not in the periphery, except for a low level in testes. It has been proposed that the nonpsychoactive effects of cannabinoids are either mediated centrally or through direct interaction with other, non-receptor proteins. Here we report the cloning of a receptor for cannabinoids that is not expressed in the brain but rather in macrophages in the marginal zone of spleen.
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            Structure of a cannabinoid receptor and functional expression of the cloned cDNA.

            Marijuana and many of its constituent cannabinoids influence the central nervous system (CNS) in a complex and dose-dependent manner. Although CNS depression and analgesia are well documented effects of the cannabinoids, the mechanisms responsible for these and other cannabinoid-induced effects are not so far known. The hydrophobic nature of these substances has suggested that cannabinoids resemble anaesthetic agents in their action, that is, they nonspecifically disrupt cellular membranes. Recent evidence, however, has supported a mechanism involving a G protein-coupled receptor found in brain and neural cell lines, and which inhibits adenylate cyclase activity in a dose-dependent, stereoselective and pertussis toxin-sensitive manner. Also, the receptor is more responsive to psychoactive cannabinoids than to non-psychoactive cannabinoids. Here we report the cloning and expression of a complementary DNA that encodes a G protein-coupled receptor with all of these properties. Its messenger RNA is found in cell lines and regions of the brain that have cannabinoid receptors. These findings suggest that this protein is involved in cannabinoid-induced CNS effects (including alterations in mood and cognition) experienced by users of marijuana.
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              The orphan receptor GPR55 is a novel cannabinoid receptor.

              The endocannabinoid system functions through two well characterized receptor systems, the CB1 and CB2 receptors. Work by a number of groups in recent years has provided evidence that the system is more complicated and additional receptor types should exist to explain ligand activity in a number of physiological processes. Cells transfected with the human cDNA for GPR55 were tested for their ability to bind and to mediate GTPgammaS binding by cannabinoid ligands. Using an antibody and peptide blocking approach, the nature of the G-protein coupling was determined and further demonstrated by measuring activity of downstream signalling pathways. We demonstrate that GPR55 binds to and is activated by the cannabinoid ligand CP55940. In addition endocannabinoids including anandamide and virodhamine activate GTPgammaS binding via GPR55 with nM potencies. Ligands such as cannabidiol and abnormal cannabidiol which exhibit no CB1 or CB2 activity and are believed to function at a novel cannabinoid receptor, also showed activity at GPR55. GPR55 couples to Galpha13 and can mediate activation of rhoA, cdc42 and rac1. These data suggest that GPR55 is a novel cannabinoid receptor, and its ligand profile with respect to CB1 and CB2 described here will permit delineation of its physiological function(s).
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Pharmaceuticals (Basel)
                Pharmaceuticals (Basel)
                pharmaceuticals
                Pharmaceuticals
                MDPI
                1424-8247
                10 August 2010
                August 2010
                : 3
                : 8
                : 2517-2553
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Physiology, School of Medicine, NCBES Neuroscience Cluster and Centre for Pain Research, National University of Ireland, Galway, University Road, Galway, Ireland
                [2 ]Pharmacology and Therapeutics, School of Medicine, NCBES Neuroscience Cluster and Centre for Pain Research, National University of Ireland, Galway, University Road, Galway, Ireland; E-Mail: David.finn@ 123456nuigalway.ie (D.P.F.)
                Author notes
                [* ]To whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: Michelle.roche@ 123456nuigalway.ie ; Tel.: +353 91 495427; Fax: +353 91 494544.
                Article
                pharmaceuticals-03-02517
                10.3390/ph3082517
                4033937
                2a4e0821-3707-4915-b5ac-c81c7dda3255
                © 2010 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

                This article is an Open Access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).

                History
                : 15 July 2010
                : 04 August 2010
                : 09 August 2010
                Categories
                Review

                endocannabinoid,cb(2),depression,stress,schizophrenia,neurophysiology

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