Editing Cannabinoid receptor (section)

== Discovery ==

The existence of cannabinoid [[receptor (biochemistry)|receptors]] in the brain was discovered from [[in vitro]] studies in the 1980s, with the receptor designated as the [[cannabinoid receptor type 1]] or CB1.<ref name="elphick">{{cite journal | vauthors = Elphick MR, Egertová M | title = The neurobiology and evolution of cannabinoid signalling | journal = Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences | volume = 356 | issue = 1407 | pages = 381–408 | date = March 2001 | pmid = 11316486 | pmc = 1088434 | doi = 10.1098/rstb.2000.0787 | type = Review }}</ref><ref name="Pertwee_2006">{{cite journal | vauthors = Pertwee RG | title = Cannabinoid pharmacology: the first 66 years | journal = British Journal of Pharmacology | volume = 147 | issue = Suppl 1 | pages = S163–71 | date = January 2006 | pmid = 16402100 | pmc = 1760722 | doi = 10.1038/sj.bjp.0706406 | type = Review }}</ref> The [[DNA sequencing|DNA sequence]] that encodes a [[G-protein]]-coupled cannabinoid receptor in the human brain was identified and [[cloning|cloned]] in 1990.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Matsuda LA, Lolait SJ, Brownstein MJ, Young AC, Bonner TI | title = Structure of a cannabinoid receptor and functional expression of the cloned cDNA | journal = Nature | volume = 346 | issue = 6284 | pages = 561–4 | date = August 1990 | pmid = 2165569 | doi = 10.1038/346561a0 | bibcode = 1990Natur.346..561M | s2cid = 4356509 }}</ref><ref name="Howlett_2002">{{cite journal | vauthors = Howlett AC, Barth F, Bonner TI, Cabral G, Casellas P, Devane WA, Felder CC, Herkenham M, Mackie K, Martin BR, Mechoulam R, Pertwee RG | display-authors = 6 | title = International Union of Pharmacology. XXVII. Classification of cannabinoid receptors | journal = Pharmacological Reviews | volume = 54 | issue = 2 | pages = 161–202 | date = June 2002 | pmid = 12037135 | doi =  10.1124/pr.54.2.161| s2cid = 8259002 | type = Review }}</ref> These discoveries led to determination in 1993 of a second brain cannabinoid receptor named [[cannabinoid receptor type 2]] or CB2.<ref name=Pertwee_2006/>

A [[neurotransmitter]] for a possible [[endocannabinoid]] system in the brain and [[peripheral nervous system]], [[anandamide]] (from 'ananda', [[Sanskrit]] for '[[pleasure|bliss]]'), was first characterized in 1992,<ref name="unpaved">{{cite book |vauthors=Mechoulam R, Fride E |editor=Pertwee RG |title=Cannabinoid receptors |publisher=Academic Press |location=Boston |year=1995 |pages=233–258 |chapter=The unpaved road to the endogenous brain cannabinoid ligands, the anandamides |isbn=978-0-12-551460-6 | type = Review}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Devane WA, Hanus L, Breuer A, Pertwee RG, Stevenson LA, Griffin G, Gibson D, Mandelbaum A, Etinger A, Mechoulam R | display-authors = 6 | title = Isolation and structure of a brain constituent that binds to the cannabinoid receptor | journal = Science | volume = 258 | issue = 5090 | pages = 1946–9 | date = December 1992 | pmid = 1470919 | doi = 10.1126/science.1470919 | bibcode = 1992Sci...258.1946D }}</ref><ref name="Hanus_2007">{{cite journal | vauthors = Hanus LO | title = Discovery and isolation of anandamide and other endocannabinoids | journal = Chemistry & Biodiversity | volume = 4 | issue = 8 | pages = 1828–41 | date = August 2007 | pmid = 17712821 | doi = 10.1002/cbdv.200790154 | s2cid = 745528 }}</ref> followed by discovery of other [[fatty acid]] neurotransmitters that behave as endogenous cannabinoids having a low-to-high range of efficacy for stimulating CB1 receptors in the brain and CB2 receptors in the periphery.<ref name=Pertwee_2006/><ref name=unpaved/>