Fast-Acting and Receptor-Mediated Regulation of Neuronal Signaling Pathways by Copaiba Essential Oil.

This study examined the biological activities of copaiba essential oil via measurement of its effects on signaling pathways in the SH-SY5Y neuronal cell line. Nanofluidic proteomic technologies were deployed to measure the phosphorylation of biomarker proteins within the signaling cascades. Interestingly, copaiba essential oil upregulated the pI3K/Akt/mTOR, MAPK, and JAK/STAT signaling pathways in neuronal cells. The effects of copaiba essential oil peaked at 30 min post-treatment, with a half-maximal effective concentration (EC50) of approximately 80 ng/mL. Treatment with cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2) agonist AM1241 or the inverse agonist BML190 abrogated the regulatory effects of copaiba essential oil on the pI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. Surprisingly, copaiba essential oil also activated the apoptosis signaling pathway and reduced the viability of SH-SY5Y cells with an EC50 of approximately 400 ng/mL. Furthermore, ß-caryophyllene, a principal constituent of copaiba essential oil, downregulated the pI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. Taken together, the findings indicated that copaiba essential oil upregulated signaling pathways associated with cell metabolism, growth, immunity, and apoptosis. The biological activities of copaiba essential oil were determined to be fast acting, CB2 mediated, and dependent on multiple chemical constituents of the oil. Nanofluidic proteomics provided a powerful means to assess the biological activities of copaiba essential oil.

Potency Assessment of CBD Oils by Their Effects on Cell Signaling Pathways.

This study used nanofluidic protein posttranslational modification (PTM) profiling to measure the effects of six cannabidiol (CBD) oils and isolated CBD on the signaling pathways of a cultured SH-SY5Y neuronal cell line. Chemical composition analysis revealed that all CBD oils met the label claims and legal regulatory limit regarding the CBD and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) contents, respectively. Isolated CBD was cytotoxic, with an effective concentration (EC50) of 40 µM. In contrast, the CBD oils had no effect on cell viability at CBD concentrations exceeding 1.2 mM. Interestingly, only an unadulterated CBD oil had strong and statistically significant suppressive effects on the pI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway with an EC50 value of 143 µM and a slow-acting timescale requiring hours. Systematic profiling of twenty-six proteins, which served as biomarkers for nine signaling pathways, revealed that the unadulterated CBD oil downregulated seven signaling pathways but had no measurable effect on the other two signaling pathways. The remaining CBD oils, which were adulterated, and isolated CBD had weak, variable, or undetectable effects on neuronal signaling pathways. Our data clearly showed that adulteration diminished the biological activities of CBD oils. In addition, nanofluidic protein PTM profiling provided a robust means for potency assessment of CBD oils.