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2‐Arachidonoylglycerol, an endogenous cannabinoid receptor agonist: identification as one of the major species of monoacylglycerols in various rat tissues, and evidence for its generation through Ca 2+ ‐dependent and ‐independent mechanisms
Author(s) -
Kondo Sachiko,
Kondo Hironori,
Nakane Shinji,
Kodaka Tomoko,
Tokumura Akira,
Waku Keizo,
Sugiura Takayuki
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/s0014-5793(98)00581-x
Subject(s) - 2 arachidonoylglycerol , cannabinoid receptor , endocannabinoid system , chemistry , cannabinoid , endogeny , agonist , receptor , monoacylglycerol lipase , high performance liquid chromatography , incubation , biochemistry , chromatography
The molecular species compositions of monoacylglycerols obtained from various rat tissues were examined by reverse‐phase high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS) analyses. We confirmed that 2‐arachidonoylglycerol, an endogenous cannabinoid receptor agonist, is one of the most abundant molecular species of monoacylglycerols in the brain. Substantial amounts of 2‐arachidonoylglycerol were also found in the liver, spleen, lung and kidney, but the levels were considerably lower than that in the brain. We found that a small amount of 2‐arachidonoylglycerol was generated in a brain homogenate during incubation in the absence of Ca 2+ . Importantly, the generation of 2‐arachidonoylglycerol was markedly augmented in the presence of Ca 2+ , suggesting that Ca 2+ plays a key role in regulation of the generation of 2‐arachidonoylglycerol in this tissue.