Crystal Structure of the Human Cannabinoid Receptor CB1 | Hacker News Reader

Crystal Structure of the Human Cannabinoid Receptor CB1

cell.com

18 pointsrandomdrake5 comments

Now I wanted to dazzle the HN readership with the beauty of molecular structures, but the actual data is apparently not yet available (http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/results/results.do?tabtoshow=Unrelea...)

Oh well, look at this beauty instead: http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/ngl/ngl.do?pdbid=3a12&bionumber=1. CB1 would be without work if this juggernaut ever decides to just chill & smoke weed.

I love that we live in a time where I can open a web page on a $70 phone, it loads in seconds, and I can smoothly rotate a massive 3D molecule with my thumb.

Seriously that used to be the gold standard for "holy crap that computer is fast".

Kudos to the thousands of people over the years who worked to make that possible.

>This site requires Cookies to be enabled to function. Please ensure Cookies are turned on and then re-visit the desired page.

Cookie wall?

At first they said nothing, then they started asking, then warning that you should accept their use of cookies and now they outright block you. I really hope that this abusive practice remains a rare sight for the sake of the little openness remaining in the Web.

The poster might want to comment on why he considered this article in particular worthy of posting. Crystal structure studies come out all the time, and at a glance this doesn't look like anything other than routine molecular biology with a droll association.

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) are the targets for the majority of the best-selling drugs on the market. Approximately 40-50% of pharmaceuticals target them in some way.

There are more cannabinoid receptors than any other GPCR in our bodies. With 113 known cannabinoids, including chemicals that we produce ourselves, the potential for new and novel treatments are huge.

Further understanding the mechanism by which our own endogenous cannabinoids like anandamide, or how other external cannabinoids like THC work is important. It can help us better comprehend the role CB1 and CB2 receptors play in regulating all sorts of functions like pain, mood, appetite, and more.

Additionally, from the paper itself, we're highly interested as to why some synthetic cannabinoids have caused fatal, and extremely dangerous reactions, while chemicals like THC appear to have extremely high thresholds of safety (no recorded overdoses).

I believe cannabis research is incredibly important. This study provides direction, and further understanding for not only what we already know, but what we may enable in the future.

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