Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22879589›Full record

ArticleThe Journal of biological chemistry2012

Evidence for bidirectional endocannabinoid transport across cell membranes.

Andrea Chicca, Janine Marazzi, Simon Nicolussi, Jürg Gertsch

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The Journal of biological chemistry, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 53 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
53citing papers in PubMed
11.6field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

53 citing papers in PubMed, 135 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. FAAH and MAGL inhibition: Evolving approaches to treating substance use disorders.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2026
    Review
  2. The endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol is released and transported on demand via extracellular microvesicles.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  3. Review
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Review
  8. Need for Methods to Investigate Endocannabinoid Signaling.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2023
    Article
  9. Endocannabinoids at the synapse and beyond: implications for neuropsychiatric disease pathophysiology and treatment.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2023
    Review
  10. Mechanisms of endocannabinoid transport in the brain.British journal of pharmacology · 2022
    Review
  11. Review
  12. Imaging the endocannabinoid signaling system.Journal of neuroscience methods · 2022
    Review
  13. Review
  14. Review
  15. Review
  16. Early Consumption of Cannabinoids: From Adult Neurogenesis to Behavior.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021
    Review
  17. Review
  18. Review of the Endocannabinoid System.Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · 2021
    Review
  19. Review
  20. Cannabinoid Signaling in Auditory Function and Development.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2021
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Andrea ChiccaInstitute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, National Center of Competence in Research TransCure, University of Bern, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.
Janine Marazzi
Simon Nicolussi
Jürg Gertsch
University of Bern · CH

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Despite extensive research on the trafficking of anandamide (AEA) across cell membranes, little is known about the membrane transport of other endocannabinoids, such as 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG). Previous studies have provided data both in favor and against a cell membrane carrier-mediated transport of endocannabinoids, using different methodological approaches. Because AEA and 2-AG undergo rapid and almost complete intracellular hydrolysis, we employed a combination of radioligand assays and absolute quantification of cellular and extracellular endocannabinoid levels. In human U937 leukemia cells, 100 nm AEA and 1 μm 2-AG were taken up through a fast and saturable process, reaching a plateau after 5 min. Employing differential pharmacological blockage of endocannabinoid uptake, breakdown, and interaction with intracellular binding proteins, we show that eicosanoid endocannabinoids harboring an arachidonoyl chain compete for a common membrane target that regulates their transport, whereas other N-acylethanolamines did not interfere with AEA and 2-AG uptake. By combining fatty acid amide hydrolase or monoacyl glycerol lipase inhibitors with hydrolase-inactive concentrations of the AEA transport inhibitors UCM707 (1 μm) and OMDM-2 (5 μm), a functional synergism on cellular AEA and 2-AG uptake was observed. Intriguingly, structurally unrelated AEA uptake inhibitors also blocked the cellular release of AEA and 2-AG. We show, for the first time, that UCM707 and OMDM-2 inhibit the bidirectional movement of AEA and 2-AG across cell membranes. Our findings suggest that a putative endocannabinoid cell membrane transporter controls the cellular AEA and 2-AG trafficking and metabolism.

Indexed as

Arachidonic AcidsBenzyl CompoundsBiological Transport, ActiveCell MembraneEndocannabinoidsFuransGlyceridesHumansMembrane LipidsPolyunsaturated AlkamidesU937 CellsanandamideArachidonic AcidsBenzyl CompoundsEndocannabinoidsFuransGlyceridesglyceryl 2-arachidonateMembrane LipidsN-(3-furylmethyl)eicosa-5,8,11,14-tetraenamideOMDM-2 cpdPolyunsaturated Alkamides

Identifiers

PMID22879589
PMCPMC3464571
OpenAlexW2082024566

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.