Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have teamed up with several other institutions and pharmaceutical companies, including the University of Southern California (USC), San Diego's Receptos Inc. and Japanese company Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., to publish the first 3D structures of a receptor implicated in many diseases of the brain and in normal physiology throughout the body

Surprisingly, the structures revealed a new understanding of the body's use of cannabinoids—a naturally produced substance chemically related to marijuana.

The new research, published June 18, 2015, in the journal Cell, sheds light on the molecular architecture of receptors for a family of small fat molecules known as lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), part of a larger class of fat molecules (lysophospholipids) linked to conditions including hydrocephalus, pain, hypoxic brain damage, psychiatric disorders, multiple sclerosis, fibrosis and cancer.

"The study has particular relevance to understanding and possibly treating the brain," said TSRI Professor Jerold Chun....