# Feedback regulation of cannabinoid receptor trafficking and signaling

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2022 · $17,148

## Abstract

Project Summary
Pharmacology is the study of how medicine works to produce a desired therapeutic outcome. As medicines are
developed, they are designed to target specific receptors within the body and alter the way cells function. Of
these drug targets, G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the most common, and my research examines
how GPCRs function once drugs bind to them. GPCRs alter cellular responses by initiating G-protein signaling.
This signaling was thought to occur only at the surface of cells, but emerging research has shown that G-protein
signaling occurs within the cell as well. Therefore, it is important to understand how GPCR trafficking to and from
subcellular locations impact their overall signaling capabilities. The cannabinoid receptor-1 (CB1) is a GPCR
heavily expressed throughout the brain. It plays numerous neurobiological roles and has been a potential drug
target in managing appetite, depression, pain and anxiety. However, drugs that bind to CB1, also known as
cannabinoids, produce a wide variety of unintended side effects. For example, THC, the psychoactive
component of cannabis, is a cannabinoid that is heavily associated with drug use and substance abuse disorders.
My research is particularly focused on understanding how cannabinoids that bind to CB1 produce different
biological outcomes. I aim to expand their value as promising therapeutic targets by studying how cannabinoids
regulate CB1's subcellular activity. Understanding the functional roles of intracellular GPCR signaling is a new
and exciting area of pharmacology and therapeutic research where drugs can be specifically designed for
intracellular targeting of receptors. This could have significant implications for understanding the varying
outcomes of CB1 activation, as CB1 exhibits significant subcellular localization when compared to GPCRs that
are most commonly studied. However, the significance of CB1's subcellular localization requires further
investigation. The proposed research project will investigate how CB1 is differentially activated by cannabinoids
within the brain, while simultaneously delineating the spatial components of CB1 activation. The results gained
from completion of this project will provide a framework for developing CB1 as a viable therapeutic target.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10312886
- **Project number:** 1F31DA054739-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Joshua Lott
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $17,148
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-02-01 → 2022-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10312886

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10312886, Feedback regulation of cannabinoid receptor trafficking and signaling (1F31DA054739-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10312886. Licensed CC0.

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