THE N-ACYLATION-PHOSPHODIESTERASE PATHWAY AND CELL SIGNALING

Long-chain N-acylethanolamines (NAEs) elicit a variety of biological a nd pharmacological effects. Anandamide (20:4n-6 NAE) and other polyuns aturated NAEs bind to the cannabinoid receptor and may thus serve as h ighly specific lipid mediators of cell signalling. NAEs can be: formed by phospholipase D-catalyzed hydrolysis of N-acylethanolamine phospho lipids or by direct condensation of ethanolamine and fatty acid. So fa r, most of the latter biosynthetic activity has been shown to be the r everse reaction of the NAE amidohydrolase that catalyzes NAE degradati on. Thus, increasing evidence supports the hypothesis that the iv-acyl ation-phosphodiesterase pathway yields not only saturated-monounsatura ted NAEs, but polyunsaturated ones, including anandamide, as well.