Mice Lacking CB1 Receptors Research Articles

Astroglial CB1 Receptors Determine Synaptic D-Serine Availability to Enable Recognition Memory

Bidirectional communication between neurons and astrocytes shapes synaptic plasticity and behavior. D-serine is a necessary co-agonist of synaptic N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs), but the physiological factors regulating its impact on memory processes are scantly known. We show that astroglial CB1 receptors are key determinants of object recognition memory by determining the availability of D-serine at hippocampal synapses. Mutant mice lacking CB1 receptors from astroglial cells (GFAP-CB1-KO) displayed impaired object recognition memory and decreased invivo andinvitro long-term potentiation (LTP) at CA3-CA1hippocampal synapses. Activation of CB1 receptors increased intracellular astroglial Ca2+ levels and extracellular levels of D-serine in hippocampal slices. Accordingly, GFAP-CB1-KO displayed lower occupancy of the co-agonist binding site of synaptic hippocampal NMDARs. Finally,elevation of D-serine levels fully rescued LTP and memory impairments of GFAP-CB1-KO mice. These data reveal a novel mechanism of invivo astroglial control of memory and synaptic plasticity via the D-serine-dependent control of NMDARs.

Inhibition of monoacylglycerol lipase terminates diazepam-resistant status epilepticus in mice and its effects are potentiated by a ketogenic diet.

Status epilepticus (SE) is a life-threatening and commonly drug-refractory condition. Novel therapies are needed to rapidly terminate seizures to prevent mortality and morbidity. Monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) is the key enzyme responsible for the hydrolysis of the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) and a major contributor to the brain pool of arachidonic acid (AA). Inhibiting of monoacylglycerol lipase modulates synaptic activity and neuroinflammation, 2 mediators of excessive neuronal activation underlying seizures. We studied the effect of a potent and selective irreversible MAGL inhibitor, CPD-4645, on SE that was refractory to diazepam, its neuropathologic sequelae, and the mechanism underlying the drug's effects. Diazepam-resistant SE was induced in adult mice fed with standard or ketogenic diet or in cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1) receptor knock-out mice. CPD-4645 (10mg/kg, subcutaneously) or vehicle was dosed 1 and 7h after status epilepticus onset in video-electroencephalography (EEG) recorded mice. At the end of SE, mice were examined in the novel object recognition test followed by neuronal cellloss analysis. CPD-4645 maximal plasma and brain concentrations were attained 0.5h postinjection (half-life=3.7h) and elevated brain 2-AG levels by approximately 4-fold. CPD-4645 administered to standard diet-fed mice progressively reduced spike frequency during 3h postinjection, thereby shortening SE duration by 47%. The drug immediately abrogated SE in ketogenic diet-fed mice. CPD-4645 rescued neuronal cell loss and cognitive deficit and reduced interleukin (IL)-1β and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) brain expression resulting from SE. The CPD-4645 effect on SE was similar in mice lacking CB1 receptors. MAGL represents a novel therapeutic target for treating status epilepticus and improving its sequelae. CPD-4645 therapeutic effects appear to be predominantly mediated by modulation of neuroinflammation.

CB1 receptors modulate affective behaviour induced by neuropathic pain.

Patients suffering from chronic pain are often diagnosed with a psychiatric condition, in particular generalized anxiety and major depression. The underlying pathomechanisms contributing to this comorbidity, however, are not entirely clear. In this manuscript we have focussed on the potential role of the cannabinoid receptor CB1, because it is known to modulate neuronal circuits contributing to chronic pain states and affective behaviours. For this purpose we analysed the consequences of a partial sciatic nerve ligation on anxiety- and depression-related behaviours in mice lacking CB1 receptors. Our results show that the development of mechanical hypersensitivity was similar in CB1 deficient mice and wild type controls. However, CB1 knockouts showed much more pronounced behavioural manifestations of anxiety-related behaviours in the light-dark and zero-maze tests, sucrose anhedonia, and disturbed home-cage activity. These results indicate that the endocannabinoid system affects chronic pain-induced mood changes through CB1 receptors.

Cannabinoid 1 receptors in keratinocytes attenuate fluorescein isothiocyanate-induced mouse atopic-like dermatitis.

Atopic dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by an impaired epidermal barrier function combined with a chronic Th2-type inflammatory response and an intense pruritus. Here, we used an experimental mouse model for Th2-type contact hypersensitivity (CHS) to fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) to investigate the potential role of cannabinoid 1 receptors (CB1) in the pathophysiology of mouse atopic-like dermatitis. Mice lacking CB1 receptors globally (Cnr1(-/-) ) or specifically in keratinocytes (KC-Cnr1(-/-) ) as well as wild-type (WT) control mice were sensitized and challenged with FITC. We examined ear swelling responses, transepidermal water loss, Th2-type skin inflammatory responses and serum IgE levels. Both Cnr1(-/-) and KC-Cnr1(-/-) showed enhanced CHS responses to FITC and a delayed epidermal barrier repair when compared with WT mice. mRNA levels for IL-4, thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) and CCL8, as well as eosinophil activity, were significantly increased in inflamed ear tissue of FITC-challenged Cnr1(-/-) and KC-Cnr1(-/-) mice. Importantly, CB1 receptor-deficient keratinocytes secreted increased levels of TSLP, a proinflammatory mediator that drives Th2-type skin inflammation in atopic dermatitis, under basal and Th2-type inflammatory conditions. Taken together, our results demonstrate that CB1 receptors in keratinocytes help to maintain epidermal barrier homoeostasis and attenuate Th2-type allergic inflammatory responses. Based on our work, we propose that enhanced epidermal allergen penetrance cooperates with increased production of TSLP and CCL8 by epidermal keratinocytes for the induction of type 2 CD4+ T helper cells. Our results place keratinocytes at the cross-roads of outside-in and inside-out pathophysiologic mechanisms of atopic dermatitis.

Endocannabinoid System and Synaptic Plasticity: Implications for Emotional Responses

The endocannabinoid system has been involved in the regulation of anxiety, and proposed as an inhibitory modulator of neuronal, behavioral and adrenocortical responses to stressful stimuli. Brain regions such as the amygdala, hippocampus and cortex, which are directly involved in the regulation of emotional behavior, contain high densities of cannabinoid CB1 receptors. Mutant mice lacking CB1 receptors show anxiogenic and depressive-like behaviors as well as an altered hypothalamus pituitary adrenal axis activity, whereas enhancement of endocannabinoid signaling produces anxiolytic and antidepressant-like effects. Genetic and pharmacological approaches also support an involvement of endocannabinoids in extinction of aversive memories. Thus, the endocannabinoid system appears to play a pivotal role in the regulation of emotional states. Endocannabinoids have emerged as mediators of short- and long-term synaptic plasticity in diverse brain structures. Despite the fact that most of the studies on this field have been performed using in vitro models, endocannabinoid-mediated plasticity might be considered as a plausible candidate underlying some of the diverse physiological functions of the endogenous cannabinoid system, including developmental, affective and cognitive processes. In this paper, we will focus on the functional relevance of endocannabinoid-mediated plasticity within the framework of emotional responses. Alterations of the endocannabinoid system may constitute an important factor in the aetiology of certain neuropsychiatric disorders, and, in turn, enhancers of endocannabinoid signaling could represent a potential therapeutical tool in the treatment of both anxiety and depressive symptoms.

Blockade by the cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonist, rimonabant (SR141716), of the potentiation by quinelorane of food-primed reinstatement of food-seeking behavior.

It has been shown previously that the selective cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonist, rimonabant (SR141716), reduced the intake of palatable food as well as the self-administration of several drugs of abuse, suggesting that endocannabinoid systems play a role in brain reward function. The present study investigated whether a cannabinoid step was involved in food-seeking behavior induced by explicit stimuli, using an operant reinstatement procedure in rats. Experimental sessions consisted of a 15-min food rewarded period, followed by a 45-min extinction period. Rimonabant did not affect the response reinstatement induced by noncontingent delivery of food pellets, but prevented (0.03-0.3 mg/kg) the potentiation by quinelorane, a dopamine D3 receptor-preferring agonist, of food-seeking behavior. A possible link between cannabinoid processes and D3- and/or D2-mediated dopaminergic transmission was further investigated by studying Fos protein expression in cortico-limbic structures in D3 (D3-/-) and D2 (D2-/-) knockout mice. Rimonabant (10 mg/kg) increased Fos immunoreactivity in the prefrontal cortex (pFCortex) and in the shell but not the core of the nucleus accumbens (NAcc). Fos induction by this dose of rimonabant was not seen in mice lacking CB1 receptors, providing clear evidence for the involvement of CB1 receptors. In the NAcc shell, the effect of rimonabant was suppressed in D3-/-, but remained unchanged in D2-/- mice. In contrast, Fos expression by rimonabant in the pFCortex was impervious to D2 or D3 receptor deletion. In conclusion, these data indicate first that rimonabant prevented the enhancement by quinelorane of the appetitive value of food pellets unexpectedly delivered during extinction and second that rimonabant effects might involve D3 receptor-mediated processes. Overall, these results are consistent with the notion that endocannabinoid functions control brain reward processes and in particular the capacity of explicit stimuli to precipitate food-seeking behavior.

Activation of CB2 cannabinoid receptors by AM1241 inhibits experimental neuropathic pain: pain inhibition by receptors not present in the CNS.

We designed AM1241, a selective CB2 cannabinoid receptor agonist, and used it to test the hypothesis that CB2 receptor activation would reverse the sensory hypersensitivity observed in neuropathic pain states. AM1241 exhibits high affinity and selectivity for CB2 receptors. It also exhibits high potency in vivo. AM1241 dose-dependently reversed tactile and thermal hypersensitivity produced by ligation of the L5 and L6 spinal nerves in rats. These effects were selectively antagonized by a CB2 but not by a CB1 receptor antagonist, suggesting that they were produced by actions of AM1241 at CB2 receptors. AM1241 was also active in blocking spinal nerve ligation-induced tactile and thermal hypersensitivity in mice lacking CB1 receptors (CB1-/- mice), confirming that AM1241 reverses sensory hypersensitivity independent of actions at CB1 receptors. These findings demonstrate a mechanism leading to the inhibition of pain, one that targets receptors localized exclusively outside the CNS. Further, they suggest the potential use of CB2 receptor-selective agonists for treatment of human neuropathic pain, a condition currently without consistently effective therapies. CB2 receptor-selective agonist medications are predicted to be without the CNS side effects that limit the effectiveness of currently available medications.

Reduction of stress-induced analgesia but not of exogenous opioid effects in mice lacking CB1 receptors.

CB1 cannabinoid receptors are widely distributed in the central nervous system where they mediate most of the cannabinoid-induced responses. Here we have evaluated the interactions between the CB1 cannabinoid receptors and the endogenous opioid system by assaying a number of well-characterized opioid responses, e.g. antinociception and stress-mediated effects, on mutant mice in which the CB1 receptor gene was invalidated. The spontaneous responses to various nociceptive stimuli (thermal, mechanical and visceral pain) were not changed in mutant CB1 mice. Furthermore, the absence of the CB1 cannabinoid receptor did not modify the antinociceptive effects induced by different opioid agonists: morphine (preferential mu opioid agonist), D-Pen2-D-Pen5-enkephalin (DPDPE) and deltorphin II (selective delta opioid agonists), and U-50,488H (selective kappa opioid agonist) in the hot-plate and tail-immersion tests. In contrast, the stress-induced opioid mediated responses were modified in CB1 mutants. Indeed, these mutants did not exhibit antinociception following a forced swim in water at 34 degrees C and presented a decrease in the immobility induced by the previous exposure to electric footshock. However, the antinociception induced by a forced swim in water at 10 degrees C was preserved in CB1 mutants. These results indicate that CB1 receptors are not involved in the antinociceptive responses to exogenous opioids, but that a physiological interaction between the opioid and cannabinoid systems is necessary to allow the development of opioid-mediated responses to stress.

Cannabinoid-induced mesenteric vasodilation through an endothelial site distinct from CB1 or CB2 receptors.

Cannabinoids, including the endogenous ligand arachidonyl ethanolamide (anandamide), elicit not only neurobehavioral but also cardiovascular effects. Two cannabinoid receptors, CB1 and CB2, have been cloned, and studies with the selective CB1 receptor antagonist SR141716A have implicated peripherally located CB1 receptors in the hypotensive action of cannabinoids. In rat mesenteric arteries, anandamide-induced vasodilation is inhibited by SR141716A, but other potent CB1 receptor agonists, such as HU-210, do not cause vasodilation, which implicates an as-yet-unidentified receptor in this effect. Here we show that "abnormal cannabidiol" (Abn-cbd) is a neurobehaviorally inactive cannabinoid that does not bind to CB1 receptors, yet causes SR141716A-sensitive hypotension and mesenteric vasodilation in wild-type mice and in mice lacking CB1 receptors or both CB1 and CB2 receptors. Hypotension by Abn-cbd is also inhibited by cannabidiol (20 microgram/g), which does not influence anandamide- or HU-210-induced hypotension. In the rat mesenteric arterial bed, Abn-cbd-induced vasodilation is unaffected by blockade of endothelial NO synthase, cyclooxygenase, or capsaicin receptors, but it is abolished by endothelial denudation. Mesenteric vasodilation by Abn-cbd, but not by acetylcholine, sodium nitroprusside, or capsaicine, is blocked by SR141716A (1 microM) or by cannabidiol (10 microM). Abn-cbd-induced vasodilation is also blocked in the presence of charybdotoxin (100 nM) plus apamin (100 nM), a combination of K(+)-channel toxins reported to block the release of an endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF). These findings suggest that Abn-cbd and cannabidiol are a selective agonist and antagonist, respectively, of an as-yet-unidentified endothelial receptor for anandamide, activation of which elicits NO-independent mesenteric vasodilation, possibly by means of the release of EDHF.