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Expression of cannabinoid receptors type 1 and type 2 in non‐Hodgkin lymphoma: Growth inhibition by receptor activation
Author(s) -
Gustafsson Kristin,
Wang Xiao,
Severa Denise,
Eriksson Maeve,
Kimby Eva,
Merup Mats,
Christensson Birger,
Flygare Jenny,
Sander Birgitta
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.23584
Subject(s) - cannabinoid receptor , lymphoma , cannabinoid receptor type 2 , mantle cell lymphoma , cannabinoid , receptor , cancer research , biology , chronic lymphocytic leukemia , endocannabinoid system , leukemia , medicine , immunology , agonist
Endogenous and synthetic cannabinoids exert antiproliferative and proapoptotic effects in various types of cancer and in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). In this study, we evaluated the expression of cannabinoid receptors type 1 and type 2 (CB1 and CB2) in non‐Hodgkin lymphomas of B cell type ( n = 62). A majority of the lymphomas expressed higher mRNA levels of CB1 and/or CB2 as compared to reactive lymphoid tissue. With the exception of MCL, which uniformly overexpresses both CB1 and CB2, the levels of cannabinoid receptors within other lymphoma entities were highly variable, ranging from 0.1 to 224 times the expression in reactive lymph nodes. Low levels of the splice variant CB1a, previously shown to have a different affinity for cannabinoids than CB1, were detected in 44% of the lymphomas, while CB1b expression was not detected. In functional studies using MCL, Burkitt lymphoma (BL), chronic lymphatic leukemia (CLL) and plasma cell leukemia cell lines, the stable anandamide analog R(+)‐methanandamide (R(+)‐MA) induced cell death only in MCL and CLL cells, which overexpressed both cannabinoid receptors, but not in BL. In vivo treatment with R(+)‐MA caused a significant reduction of tumor size and mitotic index in mice xenografted with human MCL. Together, our results suggest that therapies using cannabinoid receptor ligands will have efficiency in reducing tumor burden in malignant lymphoma overexpressing CB1 and CB2. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.