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  • The serine hydrolase ABHD6 ...
    Marrs, William R; Blankman, Jacqueline L; Horne, Eric A; Thomazeau, Aurore; Lin, Yi Hsing; Coy, Jonathan; Bodor, Agnes L; Muccioli, Giulio G; Hu, Sherry Shu-Jung; Woodruff, Grace; Fung, Susan; Lafourcade, Mathieu; Alexander, Jessica P; Long, Jonathan Z; Li, Weiwei; Xu, Cong; Möller, Thomas; Mackie, Ken; Manzoni, Olivier J; Cravatt, Benjamin F; Stella, Nephi

    Nature neuroscience, 08/2010, Volume: 13, Issue: 8
    Journal Article

    The endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) regulates neurotransmission and neuroinflammation by activating CB1 cannabinoid receptors on neurons and CB2 cannabinoid receptors on microglia. Enzymes that hydrolyze 2-AG, such as monoacylglycerol lipase, regulate the accumulation and efficacy of 2-AG at cannabinoid receptors. We found that the recently described serine hydrolase alpha-beta-hydrolase domain 6 (ABHD6) also controls the accumulation and efficacy of 2-AG at cannabinoid receptors. In cells from the BV-2 microglia cell line, ABHD6 knockdown reduced hydrolysis of 2-AG and increased the efficacy with which 2-AG can stimulate CB2-mediated cell migration. ABHD6 was expressed by neurons in primary culture and its inhibition led to activity-dependent accumulation of 2-AG. In adult mouse cortex, ABHD6 was located postsynaptically and its selective inhibition allowed the induction of CB1-dependent long-term depression by otherwise subthreshold stimulation. Our results indicate that ABHD6 is a rate-limiting step of 2-AG signaling and is therefore a bona fide member of the endocannabinoid signaling system.