{"entity":{"id":"cnr1","kind":"target","name":"Cannabinoid receptor 1","aka":[],"tldr":"The CB1 cannabinoid receptor is how dronabinol and nabilone, synthetic cannabinoids approved for chemotherapy nausea that other drugs fail to control, act on the brain; their place is behind the 5-HT3 and NK1 antagonists.","summary":"Cannabinoid receptor 1 is the brain receptor for THC and for the body's own endocannabinoids. Dronabinol (synthetic THC) and nabilone are approved for nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy in patients who have not responded to conventional antiemetics, and dronabinol also for appetite loss in AIDS; guidelines place them as later options after 5-HT3 antagonists, NK1 antagonists, dexamethasone and olanzapine because of dizziness, sedation and mood effects. Claims that cannabinoids shrink tumours rest on laboratory and small early studies, and no cannabinoid is approved to treat cancer itself.","asOf":"2026-09-04","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabinoid_receptor_1","links":[{"label":"UniProt P21554: CNR1","url":"https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/P21554/entry"},{"label":"HGNC:2159 CNR1","url":"https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:2159"},{"label":"ChEMBL target CHEMBL218","url":"https://www.ebi.ac.uk/chembl/explore/target/CHEMBL218"}],"tags":["chembl-gap"],"related":["htr3a","tacr1"],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":["dronabinol","nabilone"],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"symbol":"CNR1","role":[],"sources":[],"specificity":"tumour-associated","distribution":"not-established","specificityNote":"Tumour-associated overexpression: HPA finds the RNA cancer enriched in cancer (Glioblastoma Multiforme (TCGA)) and tissue enhanced in normal adipose tissue, brain, so the tumour and the normal tissue it comes from share the target and the medicine relies on the difference in level. HPA CNR1: RNA tissue enhanced (adipose tissue 18 nTPM, brain 19 nTPM); high antibody staining in 6 normal tissues; highest cancer staining thyroid cancer (2 of 4 high). Distribution: no corpus cancer carries a prevalence row, threshold or catalogue link for it; Open Targets associates it with 0 specific cancer types at or above 0.5. (Rule 7 of scripts/fetch-target-specificity.ts.)","specificitySources":[{"label":"Human Protein Atlas CNR1 tissue","url":"https://www.proteinatlas.org/ENSG00000118432-CNR1/tissue","note":"RNA tissue and blood lineage specificity, normal tissue antibody staining (version 25.1, CC BY-SA 3.0)"},{"label":"Human Protein Atlas CNR1 pathology","url":"https://www.proteinatlas.org/ENSG00000118432-CNR1/pathology","note":"patients per staining level per cancer type (version 25.1, CC BY-SA 3.0)"},{"label":"Open Targets ENSG00000118432 associations","url":"https://platform.opentargets.org/target/ENSG00000118432/associations","note":"cancer associations at or above 0.5 (CC0)"}],"hgnc":"HGNC:2159","ensembl":"ENSG00000118432","uniprot":"P21554","entrez":"1268","firstDescribed":1990,"firstDescribedBasis":"sequence","firstDescribedNote":"Earliest sequence paper UniProt cites for the protein: Gerard et al, Nucleic Acids Res, 1990, \"Nucleotide sequence of a human cannabinoid receptor cDNA\".","firstDescribedSource":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2263478/","biology":"A Gi-coupled G-protein-coupled receptor, among the most abundant in the brain, that reduces neurotransmitter release from presynaptic terminals; also present in gut, fat and liver.","whereFound":["Brain, including the emetic circuitry of the brainstem","Peripheral tissues and some tumour cells"],"targetClass":"other","prevalence":[{"cancerId":"metastatic-cancer","pct":"host","measure":"Host target: brain cannabinoid receptor. Not a tumour alteration, so no prevalence applies; the drug acts on normal tissue or on symptoms."}]},"route":"/targets/cnr1/","neighbours":{"target":[{"id":"htr3a","kind":"target","name":"5-HT3 receptor (HTR3A)","route":"/targets/htr3a/"},{"id":"tacr1","kind":"target","name":"NK1 receptor (TACR1)","route":"/targets/tacr1/"}],"drug":[{"id":"dronabinol","kind":"drug","name":"Dronabinol","route":"/drugs/dronabinol/"},{"id":"nabilone","kind":"drug","name":"Nabilone","route":"/drugs/nabilone/"}]}}