Figure 2
Endocannabinoids rescue the Daf-c phenotype of daf-7;fat-3 worms. (a) Chemical structures of the endocannabinoid molecules assayed. (b) Extracted ion chromatograms of HPLC- MS/MS experiments in order to detect the endocannabinoids 2-AG and AEA in lipid extracts of the following worm strains: N2, daf-7, fat-3 and daf-7;fat-3. The upper panels show the chromatograms of the analytical standards 2-AG and AEA. (c) daf-7;fat-3 dauers cannot be rescued by supplementation with EPEA. However, addition of the endocannabinoids 2-AG and AEA, and the non-hydrolysable noladin ether suppresses dauer formation significantly. Supplementation of methyl-AA also prevents daf-7;fat-3 dauer formation. Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance on ranks, p < 0.001. Multiple comparisons versus control group (Dunn’s Method). (*) indicates statistically significant difference with solvent, p < 0.05. Bars represent mean values and error bars represent standard errors. The number of independent experiments is n = 14 for solvent, n = 2 for EPEA and noladin, n = 14 for 2-AG, n = 4 for AEA and AA, and n = 8 for methyl-AA. The concentration of all additives is 50 µM.
