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Cutaneous Endocannabinoid System

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Sensing the Environment: Regulation of Local and Global Homeostasis by the Skin's Neuroendocrine System

Part of the book series: Advances in Anatomy, Embryology and Cell Biology ((ADVSANAT,volume 212))

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Abstract

Endocannabinoids (ECS) constitute lipid mediators (amides, esters, and ethers of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids) which act similarly to the exogenous Δ9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC; the main psychoactive ingredient of the plant Cannabis sativa) and are produced in humans and animals (Maccarrone et al. 2003; Rahn and Hohmann 2009). The cutaneous ECS system is fully functional due to the expression of ECS and their receptors as well as ECS-degrading enzymes. All the components of the skin ECS system were shown to modulate the proliferation, differentiation, growth, and apoptosis of various skin cell types as well as tumorigenesis and local cytokine production (reviewed by Biro et al. 2009; Kupczyk et al. 2009; Toth et al. 2011). ECS are synthesized “on demand” by receptor-stimulated cleavage of membrane lipid precursors and are not stored in synaptic vesicles which distinguishes them from typical neurotransmitters. ECS reuptake may be facilitated by a transporter that has not been cloned yet; however, pharmacological inhibitors of ECS transport have nonetheless been developed (Guindon and Hohmann 2009). The lipophilic nature of ECS allows them to activate various enzymes in cytosol and membraneous compartments (Kupczyk et al. 2009).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and Department of Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA

    Andrzej T. Slominski

  2. Department of Histology, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland

    Michal A. Zmijewski

  3. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center, Memphis, TN, USA

    Cezary Skobowiat & Blazej Zbytek

  4. University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA

    Radomir M. Slominski

  5. Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland

    Radomir M. Slominski

  6. Department of Pharmacology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA

    Jeffery D. Steketee

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  1. Andrzej T. Slominski
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  2. Michal A. Zmijewski
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  3. Cezary Skobowiat
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  5. Radomir M. Slominski
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Correspondence to Andrzej T. Slominski .

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© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Slominski, A.T., Zmijewski, M.A., Skobowiat, C., Zbytek, B., Slominski, R.M., Steketee, J.D. (2012). Cutaneous Endocannabinoid System. In: Sensing the Environment: Regulation of Local and Global Homeostasis by the Skin's Neuroendocrine System. Advances in Anatomy, Embryology and Cell Biology, vol 212. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-19683-6_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-19683-6_11

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-19682-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-19683-6

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