Mass‐Spectrometric Identification of Anandamide and 2‐Arachidonoylglycerol in Nematodes |
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| Authors: | Marko Lehtonen Kaja Reisner Seppo Auriola Garry Wong James C Callaway |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Kuopio, P.?O. Box 1627, FI‐70211 Kuopio;2. Department of Neurobiology, A.?I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Kuopio, P.?O. Box 1627, FI‐70211 Kuopio (fax: +358?17?162?456);3. Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Tartu, Riia 23, Tartu 51010, Estonia;4. Department of Biosciences, University of Kuopio, P.?O. Box 1627, FI‐70211 Kuopio |
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| Abstract: | The purpose of the study was to see if nematodes (Caenorhabditis elegans, Caenorhabditis briggsae, and Pelodera strongyloides) produce endocannabinoids; i.e., anandamide (AEA) and 2‐arachidonoylglycerol (2‐AG). In this study, AEA and 2‐AG were identified as endogenous products from nematodes by using electrospray‐ionization ion‐trap MS/MS (ESI‐IT‐MS) experiments operated in the positive‐ionization mode. Endocannabinoids were identified by product ion scan and concentrations were measured by triple quadrupole mass spectrometry in the multiple reaction monitoring mode (MRM). Both AEA and 2‐AG were identified in all of the nematode samples, even though these species lack known cannabinoid receptors. Neither AEA nor 2‐AG were detected in the fat‐3 mutant of C. elegans, which lacks the necessary enzyme to produce arachidonic acid, the fatty acid precursor of these endocannabinoids. |
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| Keywords: | Anandamide 2‐Arachidonoylglycerol Glycerol 2‐arachidonoyl‐ Endocannabinoids Cannabinoids Mass spectrometry Nematodes Caenorhabditis species Pelodera species |
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