Title:Role of Lipid Rafts/Caveolae in the Anticancer Effect of Endocannabinoids
VOLUME: 12 ISSUE: 11
Author(s):Claudia Grimaldi and Anna Capasso
Affiliation:Department of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, University of Salerno, Via Ponte don Melillo, 84084 Fisciano (Salerno), Italy.
Keywords:Endocannabinoids, cancer, lipid rafts, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, depolarization, capsaicin, 2-arachidonoyl-glycerylether
Abstract:The endocannabinoid system comprises the cannabinoid receptors type 1 (CB1) and type 2 (CB2), their
endogenous ligands (endocannabinoids) and the whole apparatus appointed of their synthesis and degradation. Recent
studies investigated the possibility that drugs targeting the endocannabinoid system might be used to retard or block
cancer growth. CB1, CB2 and metabolic enzymes of endocannabinoids, function in the context of lipid rafts, specialized
membrane microdomains enriched in cholesterol, sphingolipids and glycosphingolipids which may be important in
modulating signal transduction. Here, we analysed the role of lipid rafts/caveolae in the intracellular signaling and
trafficking of cannabinoid receptor agonist in cancer cells. Perturbation of lipid rafts/caveolae may in fact represent a
useful tool for the development of a novel therapy for endocannabinoids-related diseases, such as cancer. Also, we report
the more recent developments of endocannabinoids in cancer drug discovery.
