Cannabinoid receptors are widely expressed in goldfish: molecular cloning of a CB2-like receptor and evaluation of CB1 and CB2 mRNA expression profiles in different organs.

ABSTRACT: Cannabinoids, the bioactive constituents of Cannabis sativa, and endocannabinoids, among which the most important are anandamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol, control various biological processes by binding to specific G protein-coupled receptors, namely CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors. While a vast amount of information on the mammalian endocannabinoid system does exist, few data have been reported on bony fish. In the goldfish, Carassius auratus, the CB1 receptor has been cloned and its distribution has been analyzed in the retina, brain and gonads, while CB2 had not yet been isolated. In the present paper, we cloned the goldfish CB2 receptor and show that it presents a quite high degree of amino acid identity with zebrafish Danio rerio CB2A and CB2B receptors, while the percentage of id

SUBMITTER: Cottone E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3776019 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature