DESIGN AND SYNTHESIS OF BIOTINYLATED PROBES FOR N-ACYL-ETHANOLAMINES

摘要

The present invention relates to the synthesis and characterisation of biotinylated analogue of N- arachidonoylethanolamine (AEA) and its use as a tool to study AEA transport and trafficking through biochemical and morphological techniques . In particular biotinylated AEA (b-AEA, for which we propose the common name MM22) is suitable to design highly sensitive and simple methods for the non-radioactive detection and quantitation of AEA from complex samples, which would offer a useful alternative approach to the routinely used radiometric assays. The invention also relates to the use of b-AEA as a potential therapeutic and diagnostic agent.