The substrate specificity of cholylglycine hydrolase has been investigated using bile acid conjugates with modifications in the steroid ring system, the side chain, or the amino acid moiety. Epimerization at C-3 and C-7 did not affect the activity of the enzyme while oxidation of the three nuclear hydroxyl groups reduced the affinity of the enzyme toward the substrate. Elongation of the side ch...

L-proline amide hydrolase (PAH, EC 3.5.1.101) is a barely described enzyme belonging to the peptidase S33 family, and highly similar prolyl aminopeptidases (PAP, EC. 3.4.11.5). Besides being an S-stereoselective character towards piperidine-based carboxamides, this also hydrolyses different L-amino acid amides, turning it into potential biocatalyst within Amidase Process. In work, we report cha...

Endocannabinoid tone has recently been implicated in a number of prevalent neuropsychiatric conditions. [(11)C]CURB is the first available positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracer for imaging fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), the enzyme which metabolizes the prominent endocannabinoid anandamide. Here, we sought to determine the most suitable kinetic modeling approach for quantifying [(11...

Fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) is an integral membrane enzyme within the amidase-signature family that terminates the action of several endogenous lipid messengers, including oleamide and the endocannabinoid anandamide. The hydrolysis of such messengers leads to molecules devoid of biological activity, and, therefore, modulates a number of neurobehavioral processes in mammals, including pain...

One of the major advances in this field was the generation of fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) inhibitors.[3,4] FAAH hydrolyses the endocannabinoids with amide bonds including anandamide (AEA). Inhibition of FAAH would lead to extended endocannabinoid activity at its site of synthesis resulting in tissue selective activation of CB1 receptors. This enhanced endocannabinoid activity is suggested...

The family of endocannabinoids (i.e., the endogenous agonists of cannabinoid receptors) contains several polyunsaturated fatty acid amides such as anandamide (AEA) and oleamide but also esters such as 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG). These compounds are the subject of growing interest in pharmacology for their multiple therapeutic potentials. Unfortunately, they are rapidly inactivated by enzymat...