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Behavioral Neurobiology of the Endocannabinoid System pp 87–110Cite as

Pharmacological Tools in Endocannabinoid Neurobiology

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Part of the book series: Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences ((CTBN,volume 1))

Abstract

Pharmacological and biochemical investigations on the endocannabinoid system are facilitated by the availability of compounds which interact with its constituents in specific and understandable ways. This chapter describes the main representatives of several classes of chemicals employed as pharmacological tools in this field, focusing on small organic compounds having, where possible, a drug-like structure. Many compounds having different intrinsic activity and selectivity towards the G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR) CB1 and CB2 are now available and are currently employed in research protocols. Recently, allosteric ligands for CB1 receptor and selective ligands for GPR55, a newly characterised GPCR, have also been described in the literature. As for compounds affecting endocannabinoid levels in living tissues, many classes of selective and, in some cases, drug-like inhibitors of FAAH are available, while only compounds with poor selectivity or in vivo activity are known to inhibit other enzymes involved in endocannabinoid catabolism, such as NAAA or MGL, and in endocannabinoid biosynthesis.

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Abbreviations

2-AG:

2-Arachidonoylglycerol

AEA:

Anandamide

CCP:

N-(cyclohexylcarbonyl)pentadecylamine

DAG:

Diacylglycerol

ECB:

Endocannabinoid

FAAH:

Fatty acid amide hydrolase

GPCR:

G protein-coupled receptor

MGL:

Monoacylglycerol lipase

NAAA:

N-Acylethanolamine acid amidase

NAE:

N-Acylethanolamine

NAPE-PLD:

N-Acylphosphatidylethanolamine phospholipase D

OEA:

N-Oleoylethanolamine

PA:

Phosphatidic acid

PEA:

N-Palmitoylethanolamine

PLC:

Phospholipase C

TRPV1:

Transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1

Δ9-THC:

Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento Farmaceutico, Università degli Studi di Parma, viale G. P. Usberti 27/A Campus Universitario, Parma, I-43100, Italy

    Marco Mor & Alessio Lodola

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  1. Marco Mor
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  2. Alessio Lodola
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Correspondence to Marco Mor .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Queen's Medical Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2UH, United Kingdom

    Dave Kendall

  2. Queen's Medical Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2UH, United Kingdom

    Stephen Alexander

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Mor, M., Lodola, A. (2009). Pharmacological Tools in Endocannabinoid Neurobiology. In: Kendall, D., Alexander, S. (eds) Behavioral Neurobiology of the Endocannabinoid System. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, vol 1. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-88955-7_4

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