Does this Deadpool superpower rely on cannabinoid receptors?

Okay, by definition, cannabis doesn’t make you superhuman, and adding cannabinoids to your body during most illnesses isn’t exactly easy. With this in mind, the comic and film character known as Deadpool raised a superslave after being treated worse than a fish — minus the water — during the Permian Extinction. Mutations to cannabinoid receptors that cause superpowers may or may not have affected Wade Deadpool Wilson after he was subjected to extreme asphyxiation. But an entire species could evolve such a trait over time.

Credit must go to a balanced omega-3/omega-6 diet, exercise, and oxygen, mind you. All of this is uniquely linked to endocannabinoid synthase, moderation and development. (1, 2)

Adjustments after generations of suffocation

The short answer is simply that suffocation does not lead to superpowers. Certain reactions need sufficient time, such as the conversion of CBD into THC. (3) In the case of asphyxiation and evolution, an individual’s adaptations to stress are minimal. However, over several generations, enough time is provided for small changes (in amino acids) to produce a noticeable effect. Imagine, if you will, that Wade Wilson’s fictional personality portrayed in Ryan Reynolds’ films simply represents multiple generations of a species or group.

After nature subjected life to incredible stress and torture, or acute and chronic anoxia, some species or groups found a way to survive. And we can only assume that Deadpool is dying to survive his own emotions. Joints dipped in nitroglycerin, anyone? Jokes aside, what about Deadpool’s ability to regenerate his rapidly progressing cancer and the role of cannabinoid receptors in this superpower – or rather – superdisease?

Likewise, sharks are not immune to cancer, but they heal quickly; a species that survived a period of deadly low oceanic oxygen during the Great Dying. (4)

Endocannabinoid morphologies in hypoxemia

When the body is too full of carbon dioxide, the respiratory drive kicks in, causing inflammatory substances to open the airways. This process lets in more oxygen. The increase in inflammatory agents temporarily takes up cannabinoid receptors to try to compensate for the inflammatory stress. (2) Therefore, in vertebrates, after a short period of extreme oxygen deprivation, there is an increase in endocannabinoids. At the same time, the breakdown of endocannabinoids also occurs—unless a species finds a way to adapt and prevent inflammatory damage.

On the other hand, oxygen-starved cells process glucose in ways that fuel cancer. (5) Anaerobic glucose metabolism suppresses cancer by producing reactive oxygen species while supporting cancer growth. Cancer growth is simultaneously linked to cancer destruction in our body. And this process is regulated in part by messenger proteins controlled by PTEN genes (6) and cannabinoid receptors. The regulation of cellular glucose metabolism is a goal of cancer therapy, albeit less individually.

Super regeneration

Anandamide, one of the most important endocannabinoids, supports the regenerative properties. Let’s say the endocannabinoid system is forced to evolve again under pressure. If that inevitably happens, will a species attain the superpower of rapid healing and regeneration, similar to sharks or even Deadpool?

Let us know in the comments what you think the endocannabinoid system will look like in the future.

Sources

1. Stanley D, Kim Y. Why most insects have very low levels of C20 polyunsaturated fatty acids: The oxidative stress hypothesis. Arch Insect Biochem Physiol. 2020;103(1):e21622. doi:10.1002/arch.21622
2. Morris G, Sominsky L, Walder KR et al. Inflammation and nitrooxidative stress as drivers of endocannabinoid system aberrations in mood disorders and schizophrenia. Mol Neurobiol (2022).
3. Russo, Ethan. (2017). Cannabidiol claims and misconceptions. Trends in the Pharmacological Sciences. 38. 10.1016/j.tips.2016.12.004.
4. Guinot G, Adnet S, Cavin L, Cappetta H. Cretaceous chondrichthyae survived the mass extinction event at the end of the Permian. Nat Commun. 2013;4:2669. doi:10.1038/ncomms3669
5. Sebastian C, Ferrer C, Serra M et al. A non-dividing cell population with high pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase activity regulates metabolic heterogeneity and tumorigenesis in the gut. Nat Commun 13, 1503 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29085-y
6. Lin YX, Wang Y, Ding J, Jiang A, Wang J, Yu M, Blake S, Liu S, Bieberich CJ, Farokhzad OC, Mei L ., Wang, H., & Shi, J. (2021). Reactivation of the tumor suppressor PTEN by mRNA nanoparticles enhances antitumor immunity in preclinical models. Science translational medicine, 13(599), eaba9772.