“In recent years, cannabinoids (the active components of Cannabis sativa) and their derivatives have received considerable interest due to findings that they can affect the viability and invasiveness of a variety of different cancer cells. Moreover, in addition to their inhibitory effects on tumor growth and migration, angiogenesis and metastasis, the ability of these compounds to induce different pathways of cell death has been highlighted. Here, we review the most recent results generating interest in the field of death mechanisms induced by cannabinoids in cancer cells. In particular, we analyze the pathways triggered by cannabinoids to induce apoptosis or autophagy and investigate the interplay between the two processes. Overall, the results reported here suggest that the exploration of molecular mechanisms induced by cannabinoids in cancer cells can contribute to the development of safe and effective treatments in cancer therapy.”
Tag Archives: Cannabinoids
Marijuana compound could stop aggressive cancer metastasis
“A compound found in cannabis could halt the spread of many forms of aggressive cancer, scientists have claimed.
Researchers found that the compound, called cannabidiol, had the ability to “switch off” the gene responsible for metastasis in an aggressive form of breast cancer, the Daily Mail reported.
Importantly, this substance does not produce the psychoactive properties of the cannabis plant.
The team from the California Pacific Medical Center, in San Francisco, first spotted its potential five years ago, after it stopped the proliferation of human breast cancer cells in the lab, the report said.
They discovered that the compound had turned off the overexpression of ID-1, stopping them from travelling to distant tissues.
Other potentially treatable cancers are forms of leukaemia, lung, ovarian and brain cancers, which also have high levels of ID-1.”
http://in.news.yahoo.com/marijuana-compound-could-stop-aggressive-cancer-metastasis-064950912.html
Cannabinoids for Cancer Treatment: Progress and Promise
“Cannabinoids are a class of pharmacologic compounds that offer potential applications as antitumor drugs, based on the ability of some members of this class to limit inflammation, cell proliferation, and cell survival. In particular, emerging evidence suggests that agonists of cannabinoid receptors expressed by tumor cells may offer a novel strategy to treat cancer. Here, we review recent work that raises interest in the development and exploration of potent, nontoxic, and nonhabit forming cannabinoids for cancer therapy.
there is overwhelming evidence to suggest that cannabinoids can be explored as chemotherapeutic agents for the treatment of cancer.”
The anandamide analog, Met-F-AEA, controls human breast cancer cell migration via the RHOA/RHO kinase signaling pathway.
“The endocannabinoid system regulates cell proliferation and migration in human breast cancer cells. In this study, we showed that a metabolically stable analog of anandamide, 2-methyl-2′-F-anandamide (Met-F-AEA), inhibited the RHOA activity and caused a RHOA delocalization from the cell membrane to cytosol determining a decrease in actin stress fibers. Overexpression of a dominant negative of RHOA activity and treatment of these cells with a RHO-associated protein kinase (ROCK) inhibitor, Y 27632, mimicked Met-F-AEA effects on actin organization and cell migration. We suggest that the inhibitory effect of Met-F-AEA on tumor cell migration could be related to RHOA-ROCK-dependent signaling pathway.”
Anandamide inhibits the Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway in human breast cancer MDA MB 231 cells.
“We previously showed that methyl-F-anandamide, a stable analogue of the anandamide, inhibited the growth and the progression of cultured human breast cancer cells. As accumulating evidences indicate that the constitutive activation of the canonical Wnt pathway in human breast cancer may highlight a key role for aberrant activation of the β-catenin-TCF cascade and tumour progression, we studied the anandamide effect on the key elements of Wnt pathway in breast cancer cells. In this study we described that the treatment of human breast cancer cells, MDA MB 231 cells, with methyl-F-anandamide reduced protein levels of β-catenin in the cytoplasmic and nuclear fractions inhibiting the transcriptional activation of T Cell Factor (TCF) responsive element (marker for β-catenin signalling). The anandamide treatment resulted in up-regulation of epithelial markers, like E-cadherin with a concomitant decrease in protein levels of mesenchymal markers, including vimentin and Snail1. We, furthermore, observed that the induction of experimental epithelial-mesenchymal transition by exposure to adriamycin in MCF7 human breast cancer cell line was inhibited by anandamide treatment. In the present study we reported a novel anticancer effect of anandamide involving the inhibition of epithelial-mesenchymal transition, a process triggered during progression of cancer to invasive state.”
The endocannabinoid system in the cancer therapy: an overview.
“The endocannabinoid system comprises the cannabinoid receptors type 1 (CB1) and type 2 (CB2), their endogenous ligands (endocannabinoids), and the proteins responsible for their biosynthesis and degradation. This ubiquitous signalling system, that has attracted a great deal of scientist interest in the past 15 years, regulates several physiological and pathological functions. In mammals, among other functions, the endocannabinoid is involved in nervous, cardiovascular, metabolic, reproductive and immune functions. Finally, yet importantly, endocannabinoids are known to exert important antiproliferative actions in a great number of tumor cells including breast, brain, skin, thyroid, prostate and colorectal. The following review describes our current knowledge on the effects of two of the most studied endocannabinoids (AEA and 2-AG) on various types of tumor and summarizes the possible mechanism of observed antitumor effects.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21428888
Anandamide inhibits adhesion and migration of breast cancer cells.
“The endocannabinoid system regulates cell proliferation in human breast cancer cells. We reasoned that stimulation of cannabinoid CB1 receptors could induce a non-invasive phenotype in breast metastatic cells. In a model of metastatic spreading in vivo, the metabolically stable anandamide analogue, 2-methyl-2′-F-anandamide (Met-F-AEA), significantly reduced the number and dimension of metastatic nodes, this effect being antagonized by the selective CB1 antagonist SR141716A. In MDA-MB-231 cells, a highly invasive human breast cancer cell line, and in TSA-E1 cells, a murine breast cancer cell line, Met-F-AEA inhibited adhesion and migration on type IV collagen in vitro without modifying integrin expression: both these effects were antagonized by SR141716A. In order to understand the molecular mechanism involved in these processes, we analyzed the phosphorylation of FAK and Src, two tyrosine kinases involved in migration and adhesion. In Met-F-AEA-treated cells, we observed a decreased tyrosine phosphorylation of both FAK and Src, this effect being attenuated by SR141716A. We propose that CB1 receptor agonists inhibit tumor cell invasion and metastasis by modulating FAK phosphorylation, and that CB1 receptor activation might represent a novel therapeutic strategy to slow down the growth of breast carcinoma and to inhibit its metastatic diffusion in vivo.”
Endocannabinoids in endocrine and related tumours.
“The ‘endocannabinoid system’, comprising the cannabinoid CB1 and CB2 receptors, their endogenous ligands, endocannabinoids and the enzymes that regulate their biosynthesis and degradation, has drawn a great deal of scientist attention during the last two decades. The endocannabinoid system is involved in a broad range of functions and in a growing number of physiopathological conditions. Indeed, recent evidence indicates that endocannabinoids influence the intracellular events controlling the proliferation of numerous types of endocrine and related cancer cells, thereby leading to both in vitro and in vivo antitumour effects. In particular, they are able to inhibit cell growth, invasion and metastasis of thyroid, breast and prostate tumours. The chief events of endocannabinoids in cancer cell proliferation are reported highlighting the correspondent signalling involved in tumour processes: regulation of adenylyl cyclase, cyclic AMP-protein kinase-A pathway and MEK-extracellular signal-regulated kinase signalling cascade.
Up to date since the isolation and characterisation of the psychoactive component of Cannabis sativa, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC), about 60 different plant terpeno-phenols more or less related to THC have been isolated and defined cannabinoids. They include cannabidiol (CBD), cannabinol, cannabigerol and cannabichromene. The discovery of these principles stimulated the generation of a whole range of synthetic analogues that included not only compounds structurally similar to phytocannabinoids, but also analogues with different chemical structures, including classic and non-classic cannabinoids and aminoalkylindoles (Howlett et al. 2002) as well as the subsequently discovered endogenous arachidonic acid derivatives or endocannabinoids. The discovery of this family of endogenous cannabinoids (Devane et al. 1992, Mechoulam et al. 1995, Sugiura et al. 1995) has focused much attention on cannabinoids and their pharmacological properties during the last few years (Di Marzo et al. 2004).”
Crosstalk between Chemokine Receptor CXCR4 and Cannabinoid Receptor CB2 in Modulating Breast Cancer Growth and Invasion
“BACKGROUND:
Cannabinoids bind to cannabinoid receptors CB(1) and CB(2) and have been reported to possess anti-tumorigenic activity in various cancers. However, the mechanisms through which cannabinoids modulate tumor growth are not well known. In this study, we report that a synthetic non-psychoactive cannabinoid that specifically binds to cannabinoid receptor CB(2) may modulate breast tumor growth and metastasis by inhibiting signaling of the chemokine receptor CXCR4 and its ligand CXCL12. This signaling pathway has been shown to play an important role in regulating breast cancer progression and metastasis.
CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:
This study provides novel insights into the crosstalk between CB(2) and CXCR4/CXCL12-signaling pathways in the modulation of breast tumor growth and metastasis. Furthermore, these studies indicate that CB(2) receptors could be used for developing innovative therapeutic strategies against breast cancer.”
Disease modification of breast cancer-induced bone remodeling by cannabinoid 2 receptor agonists.
“Most commonly originating from breast malignancies, metastatic bone cancer causes bone destruction and severe pain. Although novel chemotherapeutic agents have increased life expectancy, patients are experiencing higher incidences of fracture, pain, and drug-induced side effects; furthermore, recent findings suggest that patients are severely under-treated for their cancer pain. Strong analgesics, namely opiates, are first-line therapy in alleviating cancer-related pain despite the severe side effects, including enhanced bone destruction with sustained administration.Bone resorption is primarily treated with bisphosphonates, which are associated with highly undesirable side-effects including nephrotoxicity and osteonecrosis of the jaw.In contrast, cannabinoid CB(2) receptor-specific agonists have been shown to reduce bone loss and stimulate bone formation in a model of osteoporosis.CB(2) agonists produce analgesia in both inflammatory and neuropathic pain models. Notably, mixed CB(1) /CB(2) agonists also demonstrate a reduction in ErbB2-driven breast cancer progression. Here we demonstrate for the first time that CB(2) agonists reduce breast cancer-induced bone pain, bone loss and breast cancer proliferation via cytokine/chemokine suppression.Studies utilized the spontaneously-occurring murine mammary cell line (66.1) implanted into the femur intramedullary space; measurements of spontaneous pain, bone loss and cancer proliferation were made. The systemic administration of a CB(2) agonist, JWH015, for seven days significantly attenuated bone remodeling, assuaged spontaneous pain and decreased primary tumor burden. CB(2) -mediated effects in vivo were reversed by concurrent treatment with a CB(2) antagonist/inverse agonist but not with a CB(1) antagonist/inverse agonist. In vitro, JWH015 reduced cancer cell proliferation and inflammatory mediators that have been shown to promote pain, bone loss and proliferation.Taken together, these results suggest CB(2) agonists as a novel treatment for breast cancer-induced bone pain, where disease modifications include a reduction in bone loss, suppression of cancer growth, attenuation of severe bone-pain and increased survival without the major side effects of current therapeutic options.”