Cannabis has a long history of anecdotal medicinal use and limited licensed medicinal use. Until recently, alleged clinical effects from anecdotal reports and the use of licensed cannabinoid medicines are most likely mediated by tetrahydrocannabinol by virtue of: 1) this cannabinoid being present in the most significant quantities in these preparations; and b) the proportion:potency relationship between tetrahydrocannabinol and other plant cannabinoids derived from cannabis. However, there has recently been considerable interest in the therapeutic potential for the plant cannabinoid, cannabidiol (CBD), in neurological disorders but the current evidence suggests that CBD does not directly interact with the endocannabinoid system except in vitro at supraphysiological concentrations. Thus, as further evidence for CBD's beneficial effects in neurological disease emerges, there remains an urgent need to establish the molecular targets through which it exerts its therapeutic effects. Here, we conducted a systematic search of the extant literature for original articles describing the molecular pharmacology of CBD. We critically appraised the results for the validity of the molecular targets proposed. Thereafter, we considered whether the molecular targets of CBD identified hold therapeutic potential in relevant neurological diseases. The molecular targets identified include numerous classical ion channels, receptors, transporters, and enzymes. Some CBD effects at these targets in in vitro assays only manifest at high concentrations, which may be difficult to achieve in vivo, particularly given CBD's relatively poor bioavailability. Moreover, several targets were asserted through experimental designs that demonstrate only correlation with a given target rather than a causal proof. When the molecular targets of CBD that were physiologically plausible were considered for their potential for exploitation in neurological therapeutics, the results were variable. In some cases, the targets identified had little or no established link to the diseases considered. In others, molecular targets of CBD were entirely consistent with those already actively exploited in relevant, clinically used, neurological treatments. Finally, CBD was found to act upon a number of targets that are linked to neurological therapeutics but that its actions were not consistent withmodulation of such targets that would derive a therapeutically beneficial outcome. Overall, we find that while >65 discrete molecular targets have been reported in the literature for CBD, a relatively limited number represent plausible targets for the drug's action in neurological disorders when judged by the criteria we set. We conclude that CBD is very unlikely to exert effects in neurological diseases through modulation of the endocannabinoid system. Moreover, a number of other molecular targets of CBD reported in the literature are unlikely to be of relevance owing to effects only being observed at supraphysiological concentrations. Of interest and after excludin...

Cell migration is an essential process for wound healing, metastasis and inflammation. Focal adhesions (FA) are local regions of plasma membrane consisting of multiprotein complexes providing adhesive contact between the cell and the extracellular matrix (ECM). FA turnover regulates different signalling pathways implicated in various cellular responses (e.g. cell migration). Endocytosis, specifically the dynamin and clathrin pathways, is known to regulate cell migration by modulating FA dynamics. In this study, we investigated whether NO activity regulates cell migration, FA dynamics and early endosome trafficking in MDA-MB-231 cells. The assessment of cell migration showed a slowing down of cell migration and an increased duration of FA turnover in cells treated with inhibitors of NO synthase (NOS) such as L-NAME or 1400W. In addition, these treatments were found to exhibit no effect on transferrin and dextran uptake mediated by endocytosis and micropinocytosis, respectively. The number of early endosome antigen 1 (EEA1)-positive endosomes was reduced while their sizes were found to increase in cells treated with L-NAME or 1400W. In contrast, these inhibitors did not affect the number nor the size of Rab5-positive endosomes. Furthermore, we demonstrated that EEA1, endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) and inducible NO synthase (iNOS) were colocalised. Using the biotin switch assay followed by western blot, we showed that early endosome proteins such as APPL1, EEA1, Rab5 were found to be S-nitrosylated. These results were further supported by the sequence analysis performed with the GPS-SNO algorithm which predicted the S-nitrosylation of these endosomal proteins. Taken together, our findings suggest that NO might be involved in cell migration and FA turnover through early endosome trafficking in MDA-MB-231 cells. Running title: Nitric oxide in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells