Fatty acid amide hydrolase FAAH

A competitive version of ABPP identifies the target(s) and assesses the selectivity of an enzyme inhibitor in biological systems by gauging how well the inhibitor slows the enzyme s reaction with an ABP. For example, fluorophosphonate ABP 3 was used to profile the selectivity of fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) inhibitors within the serine hydrolase superfamily [27] (FAAH hydrolyzes endocannabinoids such as anandamide). Serine hydrolases that exhibited reduced labeling by the probe in the presence of inhibitor were scored as targets of the inhibitor. Urea FAAH inhibitors exemplified by PF-3845 (5) that covalently modify the active-site serine nucleophile of FAAH were found to be exquisitely selective for FAAH in brain and liver... 

Key Fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) /V-a-PEA = /V-arachidonoyl-phosphatidylethanolamine. 

Both anandamide and 2-AG are inactivated by enzymatic hydrolysis (Goparaju et al. 1998). Fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) is an enzyme that catalyses their hydrolysis. High concentrations of FAAH were found in the cerebellum, hippocampus and neocortex of rat brain, which are also rich in cannabinoid receptors. Further, there is a complementary pattern of distribution of FAAH and the CBl receptor. For example, in the cerebellum, FAAH is found in the cell bodies of Purkinje cells and the CBl receptor is found in the axons of granule cells and basket cells, which are presynaptic to Purkinje cells. 2-AG may also be inactivated by direct esterification into membrane phospholipids. Cannabinoid Receptors... 

Mitchell, and M. Glass. Identification of the CBl cannabinoid receptor and CS337 fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) in the human placenta. Placenta 2003 ... 

Anandamide can be hydrolyzed to arachidonic acid and ethanolamine by fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) (Cravatt et al., 1996 Wei et al., 2006) (Fig. 1). FAAH is highly expressed in the brain, where it is expressed at high concentrations in neuronal cell bodies and dendrites that are juxtaposed to axon terminals containing CB receptors. This suggests that anandamide hydrolysis occurs post-synaptically (Piomelli, 2003). 

LodolaA, MMor, JC Hermann, GTarzia, DPiomelli, AJ Mulholland (2005) QM/MM modelling of oleamide hydrolysis in fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) reveals a new mechanism of nucleophile activation. Chem. Comm. (35) 43994 401... 

Anandamide is rapidly hydrolysed enzymatically to arachidonic acid and ethanol-amine by a fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) [50], The molecular characterization, cloning and expression of FAAH have been reported in a recent study [51]. FAAH can be blocked with either the general serine protease inhibitor phenyl methy(sulphonyl fluoride [38] or with the highly efficient methyl arachidonyl fluorophsphonate [52], The non-steroidal antiinflammatory ibuprofen in therapeutic doses, but not aspirin, sulindac or acetaminophen, also inhibits anandamide metabolism [53], This observation may have therapeutic implications. 

Oleamide, a lipid originally named cerebrodiene, was first iso lated from partially sleep-deprived cats (Lerner et al 1994). The molecule, with the chemical formula C18H35NO, is a long-chain base structurally related to sphingosine and sphinganine (Lerner et al 1994). Oleamide, or cerebrodiene, is chemically characterized as cis-9,10-octadecenoamide (Cravatt et al 1995). Oleamide is degraded by the brain enzyme fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), which also degrades anandamide (Cravatt et al. Nature 1996). 

Haughey HM, Marshall E, Schacht JP (2008) Marijuana withdrawal and craving influence of the cannabinoid receptor 1 (CNR1) and fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) genes. Addiction 103 1678-1686... 

Maccarrone M, Bari M, Di Rienzo M, Einazzi-Agro A, Rossi A (2003a) Progesterone activates fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) promoter in human T lymphocytes through the transcription factor Ikaros. Evidence for a synergistic effect of leptin. J Biol Chem 278 32726—32732... 

Extensive studies on the endocannabinoid system have revealed a number of cannabinergic proteins involved in the inactivation and biosynthesis of endocannabinoids. These include fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) (Di Marzo et al. 1994 Gaetani et al. 2003 Piomelli et al. 1999), monoglyceride lipase (MAG) (Dinh et al. 2002), and the anandamide transporter (ANT) (Beltramo et al. 1997 Di Marzo et al. 1994 Fegley et al. 2004 Hillard et al. 1997). The above three proteins and the two cannabinoid receptors have received considerable attention and show great promise as potential targets for the development of novel medications for various conditions, including pain, immunosuppression, peripheral vascular disease, appetite enhancement or suppression, and motor disorders. 

Once antibodies to the anandamide-degrading enzyme, namely fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), became available, it was apparent that in many regions FAAH and CBl expression is reciprocal in nature (Egertova et al. 1998, 2003 Tsou et al. 1998b). For example, FAAH, but not CBi is highly expressed in the somata and proximal dendrites of hippocampal pyramidal cells and cerebellar Purkinje neurons. These neurons are, in turn, densely innervated by CBi-positive fibers. Thus, it has been proposed that anandamide, despite its possible presynaptic site... 

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