Genetic and pharmacologic inactivation of cannabinoid CB1 receptor inhibits angiogenesis

In this study we investigated the role of CB1 receptor signaling in angiogenesis and the therapeutic exploitation of CB1 inactivation as an antiangiogenic strategy. We started from the observation that CB1 receptor expression is induced during angiogenesis and that the endocannabinoid anandamide stimulated bFGF-induced angiogenesis in the nanomolar physiologic range. To define the functional involvement of CB1 receptor signaling during angiogenesis, 2 different strategies have been carried out: siRNA-mediated knockdown and pharmacologic antagonism of CB1 receptors. CB1 receptors inactivation resulted in the inhibition of bFGF-induced endothelial proliferation, migration, and capillary-like tube formation, through prosurvival and migratory pathways involving ERK, Akt, FAK, JNK, Rho, and MMP-2. To corroborate the potential therapeutic exploitation of CB1 blockade as an antiangiogenic strategy, we performed in vivo assays founding that CB1 blockade was able to inhibit bFGF-induced neovascular growth in the rabbit cornea assay. A relevant finding was the ability to reduce ocular pathologic neo-vascularization in mouse oxygen-induced retinopathy. These results demonstrate that CB1 signaling participates to the proliferative response elicited by proangiogenic growth factors in angiogenesis and that for this reason CB1 receptor could represent a novel target for the treatment of diseases where excessive neoangiogenesis is the underlying pathology.