The brain contains compounds that combine with the same cell receptors engaged by the active ingredient of marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol or THC. These compounds—called endocannabinoids (endogenous cannabinoids)—are key regulators of brain cell activity and contribute in important ways to the modulation of feeding, emotion, pain, and memory. Drugs that target the endocannabinoids and their receptors, some of which are now very close to the market, show great promise for the treatment of a broad array of diseases, including obesity, anxiety, and pain.

My lab is interested in signaling molecules that are derived from membrane fats. When the first endocannabinoid (called anandamide) was discovered in 1992, it was shown to be a fat-derived compound different from all other known brain neurotransmitters (which are generally amino acid derivatives or peptides). I was very excited by this discovery and set out to elucidate how anandamide is produced and eliminated in the brain. We described the routes of anandamide formation and inactivation and, by the time we were finished, another endocannabinoid was discovered and was waiting to be characterized. We got hooked, as they say, and started devising pharmacological tools to study this signaling pathway and, hopefully, use for therapeutic purposes. We and others have now identified new classes of pain-killers, anti-anxiety and anti-obesity drugs that are based on these discoveries. A good reason to stay hooked.