抗原变异可使得多种致病微生物易于逃避宿主免疫应答。表达在感染红细胞表面的恶性疟原虫红细胞表面蛋白1（PfPMP1）与感染红细胞、内皮细胞、树突状细胞以及胎盘的单个或多个受体作用，在黏附及免疫逃避中起关键的作用。每个单倍体基因组var基因家族编码约60种成员，通过启动转录不同的var基因变异体为抗原变异提供了分子基础。

疟原虫var基因转换速率变化导致抗原变异[英]／Paul H, Robert P, Christodoulou Z, et al//Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

BODIPY dyes and their derivatives: syntheses and spectroscopic properties.

The recent identification of cannabinoid receptors and their endogenous lipid ligands has triggered an exponential growth of studies exploring the endocannabinoid system and its regulatory functions in health and disease. Such studies have been greatly facilitated by the introduction of selective cannabinoid receptor antagonists and inhibitors of endocannabinoid metabolism and transport, as well as mice deficient in cannabinoid receptors or the endocannabinoid-degrading enzyme fatty acid amidohydrolase. In the past decade, the endocannabinoid system has been implicated in a growing number of physiological functions, both in the central and peripheral nervous systems and in peripheral organs. More importantly, modulating the activity of the endocannabinoid system turned out to hold therapeutic promise in a wide range of disparate diseases and pathological conditions, ranging from mood and anxiety disorders, movement disorders such as Parkinson9s and Huntington9s disease, neuropathic pain, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury, to cancer, atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, stroke, hypertension, glaucoma, obesity/metabolic syndrome, and osteoporosis, to name just a few. An impediment to the development of cannabinoid medications has been the socially unacceptable psychoactive properties of plant-derived or synthetic agonists, mediated by CB 1 receptors. However, this problem does not arise when the therapeutic aim is achieved by treatment with a CB 1 receptor antagonist, such as in obesity, and may also be absent when the action of endocannabinoids is enhanced indirectly through blocking their metabolism or transport. The use of selective CB 2 receptor agonists, which lack psychoactive properties, could represent another promising avenue for certain conditions. The abuse potential of plant-derived cannabinoids may also be limited through the use of preparations with controlled composition and the careful selection of dose and route of administration. The growing number of preclinical studies and clinical trials with compounds that modulate the endocannabinoid system will probably result in novel therapeutic approaches in a number of diseases for which current treatments do not fully address the patients9 need. Here, we provide a comprehensive overview on the current state of knowledge of the endocannabinoid system as a target of pharmacotherapy.

http://www.phytecs.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Pharmacol-Rev-2006-Pacher-389-462.pdf

The Endocannabinoid System as an Emerging Target of Pharmacotherapy

Research of cannabinoid actions was boosted in the 1990s by remarkable discoveries including identification of endogenous compounds with cannabimimetic activity (endocannabinoids) and the cloning of their molecular targets, the CB1 and CB2 receptors. Although the existence of an endogenous cannabinoid signaling system has been established for a decade, its physiological roles have just begun to unfold. In addition, the behavioral effects of exogenous cannabinoids such as delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the major active compound of hashish and marijuana, await explanation at the cellular and network levels. Recent physiological, pharmacological, and high-resolution anatomical studies provided evidence that the major physiological effect of cannabinoids is the regulation of neurotransmitter release via activation of presynaptic CB1 receptors located on distinct types of axon terminals throughout the brain. Subsequent discoveries shed light on the functional consequences of this localization by demonstrating the involvement of endocannabinoids in retrograde signaling at GABAergic and glutamatergic synapses. In this review, we aim to synthesize recent progress in our understanding of the physiological roles of endocannabinoids in the brain. First, the synthetic pathways of endocannabinoids are discussed, along with the putative mechanisms of their release, uptake, and degradation. The fine-grain anatomical distribution of the neuronal cannabinoid receptor CB1 is described in most brain areas, emphasizing its general presynaptic localization and role in controlling neurotransmitter release. Finally, the possible functions of endocannabinoids as retrograde synaptic signal molecules are discussed in relation to synaptic plasticity and network activity patterns.

/pdf/role-of-endogenous-cannabinoids-in-synaptic-signaling-115q7g965r.pdf

Role of Endogenous Cannabinoids in Synaptic Signaling

Endometriosis

We reported previously that synthetic amides of polyunsaturated fatty acids with bioactive amines can result in substances that interact with proteins of the endogenous cannabinoid system (ECS). Here we synthesized a series of N-acyl-dopamines (NADAs) and studied their effects on the anandamide membrane transporter, the anandamide amidohydrolase (fatty acid amide hydrolase, FAAH) and the two cannabinoid receptor subtypes, CB(1) and CB(2). NADAs competitively inhibited FAAH from N18TG2 cells (IC(50)=19-100 microM), as well as the binding of the selective CB(1) receptor ligand, [(3)H]SR141716A, to rat brain membranes (K(i)=250-3900 nM). The arachidonoyl (20:4 omega 6), eicosapentaenoyl (20:5 omega 3), docosapentaenoyl (22:5 omega 3), alpha-linolenoyl (18:3 omega 3) and pinolenoyl (5c,9c,12c 18:3 omega 6) homologues were also found to inhibit the anandamide membrane transporter in RBL-2H3 basophilic leukaemia and C6 glioma cells (IC(50)=17.5-33 microM). NADAs did not inhibit the binding of the CB(1)/CB(2) receptor ligand, [(3)H]WIN55,212-2, to rat spleen membranes (K(i)>10 microM). N-arachidonyl-dopamine (AA-DA) exhibited 40-fold selectivity for CB(1) (K(i)=250 nM) over CB(2) receptors, and N-docosapentaenoyl-dopamine exhibited 4-fold selectivity for the anandamide transporter over FAAH. AA-DA (0.1-10 microM) did not displace D1 and D2 dopamine-receptor high-affinity ligands from rat brain membranes, thus suggesting that this compound has little affinity for these receptors. AA-DA was more potent and efficacious than anandamide as a CB(1) agonist, as assessed by measuring the stimulatory effect on intracellular Ca(2+) mobilization in undifferentiated N18TG2 neuroblastoma cells. This effect of AA-DA was counteracted by the CB(1) antagonist SR141716A. AA-DA behaved as a CB(1) agonist in vivo by inducing hypothermia, hypo-locomotion, catalepsy and analgesia in mice (1-10 mg/kg). Finally, AA-DA potently inhibited (IC(50)=0.25 microM) the proliferation of human breast MCF-7 cancer cells, thus behaving like other CB(1) agonists. Also this effect was counteracted by SR141716A but not by the D2 antagonist haloperidol. We conclude that NADAs, and AA-DA in particular, may be novel and useful probes for the study of the ECS.

N-acyl-dopamines: novel synthetic CB 1 cannabinoid-receptor ligands and inhibitors of anandamide inactivation with cannabimimetic activity in vitro and in vivo

Arachidonoylserotonin and Other Novel Inhibitors of Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase

Numerous derivatives of BODIPY (4,4-difluoro-4-borata-3a-azonia-4a-aza-s-indacene) are frequently used as fluorescent probes in modern protein and lipid research. Present studies of purpose-synthesised molecules show that the BODIPY chromophore can form two different ground state dimers, denoted DI and DII. In practise DI exhibits negligible fluorescence emission, but a strong absorption band {e(477 nm) = 102 000 mol−1 dm3 cm−1}, while DII is fluorescent with the radiative lifetime 20 ns, and red-shifted absorption {e
(577 nm)} = 26 000 mol−1 dm3 cm−1} relative to that of the monomer. Energy transfer is demonstrated from monomeric BODIPY to DI, as well as to DII. Donor–donor energy migration is also shown to occur between excited and ground state DII. Both DI and DII are of potential interest in examining structure-function of proteins and lipid membrane systems.

Natalia Gretskaya

Papers

N-acyl-dopamines: novel synthetic CB 1 cannabinoid-receptor ligands and inhibitors of anandamide inactivation with cannabimimetic activity in vitro and in vivo

Arachidonoylserotonin and Other Novel Inhibitors of Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase

Electronic ground and excited state properties of dipyrrometheneboron difluoride (BODIPY): Dimers with application to biosciences

Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel amides of polyunsaturated fatty acids with dopamine

Antioxidant and neuroprotective properties of N-arachidonoyldopamine