The way you're wired, metabolically.

[NNadir]

Last edited Fri Apr 28, 2023, 10:50 PM - Edit history (1)

When I was a kid, I had a nice wall chart with metabolic pathways that I kept in my bedroom.

I moved, and I "loaned" it to a friend for "safe keeping" (he generously volunteered to do "hold it" ) until I settled in to my new digs across the country. I never saw the wall chart (or the friend) again. This was the 1970s. I'm sure it would be relatively primitive now.

This was before the internet, of course, and now one can find any metabolic pathway one wishes (or pretty much any, at least of those published if not necessarily curated) at the KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) which is not purely a list of genes, but is a rather detailed description of "normal" metabolism, catabolism, biosynthesis, etc.

There's an interesting single chart on your (as in everyone's) biochemical wiring, sort of an awesome thing at which to look, maybe even starte.

Here's what you are, you, you, you, human being, you:

Kegg Metabolic pathways - Homo sapiens (human)

It's interactive and shows how all the molecules in you, you human being, interact.

[Ocelot II]

1. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

But it's nice to know someone has figured it out.

[NNadir]

3. Trust me, there is still a lot to learn, much "to figure out."

[EarnestPutz]

2. I enjoy your posts, even though my understanding of them varies from pretty good.....

.....to pretty slim. But this is so new to me that I am really stunned. Really interesting. I was a childhood nerd (now adult nerd) but I have to say that you and your childhood friend “out-nerded” me completely. Whole ‘nother level of nerdiness.
Thanks for posting.

[NNadir]

4. You're very welcome Earnest.

[JudyM]

5. Interesting.

Challenging to navigate, maybe because I’m on a mobile device, but there’s so much there, including disease pathways. Will bookmark it. Started looking for cannabis metabolism, didn’t find it, ended up at another source, who knew there’s a wiki for pathways?!: https://www.wikipathways.org/pathways/WP4174.html

[NNadir]

6. These are not pathways for exogenous species, but rather for endogenous species.

Many of the receptors for exogenous substances have other functions.

The KEGG site is one of many open sourced sites for scientists, and is frequently referenced in the scientific literature. There are many others. (I came across a reference to it in a paper I was reading this evening, which caused me to throw this post out.)

I often use, professionally, the Uniprot database, which is linked to some of the software utilized in our lab's mass specs.

Here is a list of structures of cannabinoid receptor proteins found on that website: UniProtKB 50,481 results or search "cannabinoid" as a Protein Name, Gene Ontology, or Disease

Note that these receptors do not exist because of cannabis. They have other functions, but cannabis acts on them.

The metabolism of exogenous substances, like, say, THC, is controlled by a particular class of enzymes known as "CYPs"

Ulrich M. Zanger, Matthias Schwab, Cytochrome P450 enzymes in drug metabolism: Regulation of gene expression, enzyme activities, and impact of genetic variation, Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Volume 138, Issue 1, 2013, Pages 103-141. These enzymes are very flexible and can catalyze metabolism of a wide range of exogenous substances. They are very important in pharmacology and are much studied.

One of the positive things about the development of the internet is the availability of a wide array of databases for use in a wide array of sciences. These are the best of times and the worst of times.

[JudyM]

7. Ha! Yes, these times are that.

Yes, I’m familiar with CB1 and CB2 receptors’ design for endogenous cannabinoids and it’s fascinating that they work for cannabis as well as other exogenous substances, including foods. This is going a couple layers deeper into the matrix than I’ve ventured so it’s fun to take a peek even though I’m out of my depth. Will check them out another time, thanks for the links!

Are you in research?

[NNadir]

8. Over many years, I've found that going out of my depth is one of the more useful things I can do.

I make a point of going to lectures on subjects about which I know nothing, reading papers over my head, thinking of crazy ideas and seeing if 1) someone thought of them before, 2) they might actually work, and 3) that the idea was incredibly stupid.

Eventually it all becomes familiar.

Professionally I wear several hats, and the science part of it is to suggest to primary researchers how to employ advanced analytical tools in support of drug development, mostly around mass spec. This requires a working knowledge of molecular biology and biochemistry.

It's actually a very fascinating job, so fascinating that I'm disinterested in retiring, although I suppose I could do so. Nobody in my company wants me to retire; in fact they gave me a bonus to not retire.

I have had the privilege of participating in the development of medications that saved people's lives, lots of lives, literally millions of lives. At the end of my life, there is no better feeling than to have had that opportunity. I was not a prime researcher, but I was a cog in the machine that brought these medications to pharmacy shelves.

It really doesn't get better than that.