Protein / target
Cannabinoid receptor 1
Protein at a glance
Biological role
G protein-coupled receptor
Primary biology
GPCR signalling
Strongest disease association
Obesity disorder
Therapeutic position
Established drug target
Derived from structured UniProt, Open Targets and literature data on this page.
Protein profile
Canonical identity and biological annotation from UniProt.
Function overview
G protein-coupled receptor for endogenous cannabinoids (eCBs), including N-arachidonoylethanolamide (also called anandamide or AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), as well as phytocannabinoids, such as delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
View complete UniProt function annotationHide complete annotation
G protein-coupled receptor for endogenous cannabinoids (eCBs), including N-arachidonoylethanolamide (also called anandamide or AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), as well as phytocannabinoids, such as delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) (PubMed:15620723, PubMed:27768894, PubMed:27851727, PubMed:35637350). Mediates many cannabinoid-induced effects, acting, among others, on food intake, memory loss, gastrointestinal motility, catalepsy, ambulatory activity, anxiety, chronic pain. Signaling typically involves reduction in cyclic AMP (PubMed:1718258, PubMed:21895628, PubMed:27768894). In the hypothalamus, may have a dual effect on mitochondrial respiration depending upon the agonist dose and possibly upon the cell type. Increases respiration at low doses, while decreases respiration at high doses. At high doses, CNR1 signal transduction involves G protein alpha-i protein activation and subsequent inhibition of mitochondrial soluble adenylate cyclase, decrease in cyclic AMP concentration, inhibition of protein kinase A (PKA)-dependent phosphorylation of specific subunits of the mitochondrial electron transport system, including NDUFS2. In the hypothalamus, inhibits leptin-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation and mediates cannabinoid-induced increase in SREBF1 and FASN gene expression. In response to cannabinoids, drives the release of orexigenic beta-endorphin, but not that of melanocyte-stimulating hormone alpha/alpha-MSH, from hypothalamic POMC neurons, hence promoting food intake. In the hippocampus, regulates cellular respiration and energy production in response to cannabinoids. Involved in cannabinoid-dependent depolarization-induced suppression of inhibition (DSI), a process in which depolarization of CA1 postsynaptic pyramidal neurons mobilizes eCBs, which retrogradely activate presynaptic CB1 receptors, transiently decreasing GABAergic inhibitory neurotransmission. Also reduces excitatory synaptic transmission (By similarity). In superior cervical ganglions and cerebral vascular smooth muscle cells, inhibits voltage-gated Ca(2+) channels in a constitutive, as well as agonist-dependent manner (PubMed:17895407). In cerebral vascular smooth muscle cells, cannabinoid-induced inhibition of voltage-gated Ca(2+) channels leads to vasodilation and decreased vascular tone (By similarity). Induces leptin production in adipocytes and reduces LRP2-mediated leptin clearance in the kidney, hence participating in hyperleptinemia. In adipose tissue, CNR1 signaling leads to increased expression of SREBF1, ACACA and FASN genes (By similarity). In the liver, activation by endocannabinoids leads to increased de novo lipogenesis and reduced fatty acid catabolism, associated with increased expression of SREBF1/SREBP-1, GCK, ACACA, ACACB and FASN genes. May also affect de novo cholesterol synthesis and HDL-cholesteryl ether uptake. Peripherally modulates energy metabolism (By similarity). In high carbohydrate diet-induced obesity, may decrease the expression of mitochondrial dihydrolipoyl dehydrogenase/DLD in striated muscles, as well as that of selected glucose/ pyruvate metabolic enzymes, hence affecting energy expenditure through mitochondrial metabolism (By similarity). In response to cannabinoid anandamide, elicits a pro-inflammatory response in macrophages, which involves NLRP3 inflammasome activation and IL1B and IL18 secretion (By similarity). In macrophages infiltrating pancreatic islets, this process may participate in the progression of type-2 diabetes and associated loss of pancreatic beta-cells (PubMed:23955712)
Subcellular location
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (17)Hide
Gene Ontology
- Ccytoplasm
- CGABA-ergic synapse
- Cglutamatergic synapse
- Cgrowth cone
- Cmembrane raft
- Cmitochondrial outer membrane
- Cplasma membrane
- Cpresynaptic membrane
- Fcannabinoid receptor activity
- FG protein-coupled receptor activity
- Fidentical protein binding
- Padenylate cyclase-activating G protein-coupled receptor signaling pathway
Biological roles
What this protein does, drawn together from its UniProt function, Gene Ontology terms and Reactome pathways.
View supporting evidenceHide supporting evidence
Inhibitory neurotransmission
- ·G protein-coupled receptor for endogenous cannabinoids (eCBs), including N-arachidonoyle…
- ·GABA-ergic synapse
Excitatory neurotransmission
- ·G protein-coupled receptor for endogenous cannabinoids (eCBs), including N-arachidonoyle…
- ·glutamatergic synapse
Lipid & lipoprotein metabolism
- ·G protein-coupled receptor for endogenous cannabinoids (eCBs), including N-arachidonoyle…
G protein-coupled signalling
- ·G protein-coupled receptor for endogenous cannabinoids (eCBs), including N-arachidonoyle…
- ·G protein-coupled receptor activity
- ·adenylate cyclase-activating G protein-coupled receptor signaling pathway
- ·adenylate cyclase-modulating G protein-coupled receptor signaling pathway
View underlying pathways (2)Hide underlying pathways
Concepts derived from UniProt GO Reactome — each badge above shows which sources supported that role.
Interaction neighbourhood
Proteins with the strongest functional or physical association. Node size and line weight reflect STRING confidence; hover or select a partner to inspect one association.
Functional and physical associations from STRING v12.0. Only associations with this protein are drawn — partner-to-partner links are not part of this evidence.
Approved medicines with mapped indications
Approved therapies targeting this protein, grouped by what they are approved to treat — the disease-first view of the medicines below. Relationships come from the canonical approved-indication graph (ChEMBL phase-4), the same source as the drug cards.
Broader indication categories (1)Hide
Broad umbrella indications (e.g. “Neoplasms”). Shown here because every medicine also appears under a more specific disease above — kept for completeness, de-emphasised for clarity.
4 medicines meet Open Targets' target-level approved-medicine definition; the 3 shown here are those on this page with a canonical approved disease indication in the graph. Approved indications from ChEMBL (phase-4), via the canonical drug→disease graph.
Drugs targeting this protein
How approved and investigational drugs engage this protein — mechanism and action type, direct vs complex targeting, and how broadly each acts across other targets. A drug-first view (the section above groups the approved ones disease-first); direct binders with few recorded targets are listed first.
Cannabinoid CB1 receptor negative allosteric modulator
Indicated for Epilepsies, Myoclonic, Epilepsy, Seizures, Tuberous Sclerosis
Cannabinoid CB1 receptor agonist
Indicated for Anorexia, Nausea, Vomiting, Neoplasms
Cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonist
Indicated for Obesity
ChEMBL mechanism, action type, target identity and approved indications. Open Targets clinical status.
Translational evidence
Why this target matters therapeutically, strongest evidence first. Disease associations are gene-level (via the gene that encodes this protein) and open into the full confidence synthesis; the development universe, tractability and safety annotations are target-level, from Open Targets.
Strongest disease associations · via encoding gene CNR1
Gene-level evidence surfaced through the gene CNR1that encodes this protein — not a direct protein–disease relationship. Ranked by Forefront's causal-directness weighting, so genetically- and clinically-evidenced diseases lead over ones that merely share the literature.
View evidence synthesis (5)Hide
The evidence agreement range shows how closely the independent evidence families agree — it is not a statistical confidence interval, and nothing here is fitted to outcome data. Derived from Open Targets evidence types under Forefront weighting; the per-type scores above show the calculation.
Show all associationsHide all associations
Drug development
12 compounds recorded · 4 approved · 8 in clinical development
View all recorded compounds (10)Hide
Open Targets known-drugs universe. Drug name and highest clinical stage only — the disease relationship is NOT read from this slice (it carries trial-context noise); approved indications come from the canonical graph above.
Tractability
Small molecules — Strong
Antibodies — Strong
Protein degraders — Emerging
View underlying tractability evidence (11)Hide
Raw Open Targets tractability assessment buckets, by modality.
Safety-related annotations
Terms indexed against this target in Open Targets' safety data, with their datasource. These are annotations, not causal claims: the direction of effect (whether activation or inhibition is implicated), species and evidence strength are not captured here, so an entry does not mean that modulating this target is known to cause that condition.
Clinical trials
Trials of drugs that target this protein — reached indirectly through those drugs, so a trial listed here studies the drug, not the protein. Ranked by active status, then clinical phase and recency, and spread across the targeting drugs.
View all trials (26)Hide
ClinicalTrials.gov via the drug-target graph.
What's happening now
Recent therapeutic activity around this target — regulatory actions, clinical trials and safety signals for 2 drugs that target this protein, plus publications where such a drug is a genuine subject. Every item is reached indirectly through the drug, not the protein itself; incidental mentions (a paper that merely measures a drug) and press items are excluded.
- Label change
Label change: CANNABIDIOL (NDA210365)
- Label change
Label change: CANNABIDIOL (NDA210365)
- Label change
Label change: CANNABIDIOL (NDA210365)
- Label change
Label change: CANNABIDIOL (NDA210365)
- New publicationPresynaptic nanoscale components of retrograde synaptic signaling.
- New publicationTherapeutic applicability of cannabidiol and other phytocannabinoids in epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease and in comorbidity with psychiatric disorders.
- Label change
Label change: CANNABIDIOL (NDA210365)
- New publicationCannabidiol and its Potential Evidence-Based Psychiatric Benefits - A Critical Review.
- Indication expanded
Indication expansion: CANNABIDIOL (NDA210365)
- New publicationEmerging Therapeutic Potential of Cannabidiol (CBD) in Neurological Disorders: A Comprehensive Review.
- Label change
Label change: CANNABIDIOL (NDA210365)
- Supplemental approval
Supplemental approval: CANNABIDIOL (NDA210365)
Objective event titles are shown unmodified; the event kind and significance line are derived from structured fields. Forefront AttentionEvent stream aggregating Europe PMC Regulatory filings ClinicalTrials.gov.