Of Powerhouses, Stars and Weed: Cannabinoid CB1 receptor signaling in the brain - the where matters
Seminar
- Date: May 8, 2018
- Time: 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM (Local Time Germany)
- Speaker: Giovanni Marsicano
- Endocannabinoid and Neuroadaptation Group | NeuroCentre Magendie | INSERM & Université de Bordeaux, France
- Location: Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry
- Room: Large Lecture Hall
- Host: Carsten Wotjak
- Contact: wotjak@psych.mpg.de
During the last years, my laboratory contributed to the understanding of the mechanisms underlying both pharmacological effects of cannabinoids and the physiological functions of the ECS. In particular, we dissected the impact of CB1 receptors expressed in different brain cell types and regions in these effects and functions.
More recently, we identified a novel mode of action of CB1 receptors, namely the direct control of mitochondrial bioenergetic activity as a mean to regulate brain cellular and cognitive processes.
In this lecture, I will present an excursus of our studies on the mechanisms of action of CB1 receptors in the brain, both from the pharmacological and physiological points of view. Special attention will be dedicated to the new results revealing the direct CB1-dependent control of mitochondrial activity as a novel paradigm of G protein-coupled receptor control of brain functions. The implications of these discoveries for the general field brain physiology will be also interactively discussed.