Description | Amides are organic compounds containing the -CO-NH2 radical. Amides are derived from acids by replacement of -OH by -NH2 or from ammonia by the replacement of H by an acyl group. A planar amide bond is a fundamental linkage in the structures of peptides and proteins. The rigid planarity of the amide linkage, due to a conjugation between carbonyl and amine groups, may be requisite for encoded protein folding and many other biological processes.
Amides of fatty acids are lipid bioregulators formed from long chain saturated and unsaturated fatty acids via amidation by the corresponding amines. Ethanolamides of fatty acids are well-studied species of this group; an alternative pathway for their biosynthesis includes hydrolysis of N-acylated phosphatidylethanolamines by phospholipase D. Ethanolamides of fatty acids bind to the cannabinoid receptors of the central nervous system (CB1) or peripheral tissues (CB2) and can be considered as endogenous ligands of these receptors. Their pharmacological properties are similar to that of cannabimimetics. Simple amides of fatty acids are also endogenous bioregulators acting like sleep-inducing (oleamide) or angiogenic factors (erucamide). A new group of bioregulators comprise the amides of fatty acids and biologically active amines (vanillinamine, dopamine, and serotonin). (PMID: 11201163, 952609)
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