fatty-acid amide hydrolase 1; anandamide amidohydrolase 1; oleamide hydrolase 1 (FAAH, FAAH1)

Function

• degrades bioactive fatty acid amides like oleamide, the endogenous cannabinoid, anandamide & myristic amide to their corresponding acids, thus serving to terminate the signaling functions of these molecules
• hydrolyzes polyunsaturated substrate anandamide preferentially as compared to monounsaturated substrates
• degrades bioactive fatty acid amides to corresponding acids
  • oleamide
  • endogenous cannabinoid
  • anandamide
  • myristamide

anandamide + H2O = arachidonic acid + ethanolamine

Oleamide + H2O = oleic acid + NH3

Inhibition:

• inhibited by O-aryl carbamates

Structure

• homodimer (putative)
• belongs to the amidase family

Compartment

• endomembrane system
• single-pass membrane protein
• cytoplasm, cytoskeleton
• seems to be attached to intracellular membranes & a portion of the cytoskeletal network

Expression

• highly expressed in the brain, small intestine, pancreas, skeletal muscle & testis
• also expressed in kidney, liver, lung, placenta & prostate

Polymorphism

• variant Thr-129 seems to be strongly associated with illegal drug use & dependence; this variant displays normal catalytic properties but an enhanced sensitivity to proteolytic degradation

More general terms

• hydrolase
• membrane protein
• phosphoprotein

Additional terms

• fatty-acid amide hydrolase

Database

• Entrez gene: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=gene&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=Graphics&list_uids=2166
• Kegg: http://www.genome.jp/dbget-bin/www_bget?hsa:2166
• OMIM: https://mirror.omim.org/entry/602935
• UniProt: http://www.uniprot.org/uniprot/O00519.html