Table 1.
A summary table of cannabinoid effects on various cellular processes
| Specific Protein or Process | Effect of Cannabinoid on Protein or Process | Downstream Effect | Study Method | Study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angiogenic proteins | Administration of the cannabinoid JWH altered the expression of 10 genes which are all directly or indirectly related to the VEGF pathway | Disruption of normal angiogenesis | In vivo. Mice bearing s.c. gliomas injected with JWH | Blazquez et al., 2004. [36] |
| Apoptosis (Epithelial tumor) | Treatment of PDV.C57 cells with the cannabinoid WIN induces apoptosis | Premature cellular death | In vitro. Treatment of skin tumor cells with WIN | Casanova et al., 2003. [43] |
| Apoptosis (HUVEC) | Cannabinoid-induced HUVEC death occurred by apoptosis | Premature cellular death | In vitro. HUVEC cells treated with WIN | Blazquez et al., 2003. [42] |
| Cellular Migration | Cannabidiol treatments causes a decrease in cell migration in a concentration dependent manner. | Reduced cellular migration, possible impairment of cellular differentiation | In vivo and In vitro. Cannabidiol treatment of HUVEC cells and treatment of C57/BL6 mice | Solinas et al., 2012. [41] |
| Ceremides | The ceramide-dependent cannabinoid-induced inhibition of VEGFR-2 activation is found in cultured glioma cells | Disruption of cellular messaging | In vitro. Mice bearing s.c. gliomas injected with JWH and WIN | Blazquez et al., 2004. [36] |
| Folic acid | Chronic Cannabidiol consumption results in a decrease in folic acid uptake, while acute Cannabidiol consumption results in no effect on folic acid uptake | Disruption of DNA replication, possible neural tube defects | In vitro. Cannabidiol treatment of BeWo cells incubated with folic acid | Araújo et al., 2009. [35] |
| PCNA | Treatment of LNCaP cells with the cannabinoid WIN results in a significant decrease in protein expression of PCNA in a dose dependent manner. | Disruption of DNA replication | In vitro. LNCaP cancer cells treated with WIN | Sarfaraz et al., 2005. [40] |
| VEGF | Cannabidiol significantly inhibits the VEGF induced outgrowth of capillary-like structures | Disruption of normal angiogenesis | In vitro. Inhibition of the in-vitro angiogenesis in HUVEC Cells | Solinas et al., 2012. [41] |
Abbreviations: HUVEC Human umbilical vein endothelial cell, JWH JWH-133 (Cannabinoid and CB2 agonist), LNCaP androgen-sensitive human prostate adenocarcinoma cells, PCNA Proliferating cell nuclear antigen, S.c. Subcutaneous, VEGF Vascular endothelial growth factor, WIN WIN-55,212-2 (Cannabinoid and CB1 agonist)