Technology Overview

Femtonics Chemistry designs and develops new caged neurotransmitters for frontier neuroscience research. The two main products are a glutamate derivative and a GABA (gamma-amino-butyric acid) derivative. These dinitro-indoline-masked forms of glutamate and GABA release the bioactive forms of the two neurotransmitters more rapidly than other, commercially available versions of these compounds. They were developed to have high-quantum yield, requiring less irradiation for release, so their effective concentrations are lower than that of other caging scaffolds. DNI-Glu and iDMPO-DNI-GABA are compounds developed in-house, only available from Femtonics; in addition, iDMPO-DNI-GABA is the only commercially available caged GABA compound.

Features

• Name: 4-methoxy-5,7-dinitroindolinyl-N-methyl-D-aspartate trifluoroacetate
• Molecular formula: C₁₆H₁₇N₄O₁₀F₃
• MW: 482.32 Da
• Standard packaging size: 6 mg

Benefits

• • Rapidly and efficiently releases NMDA (N-methyl-D-Asp) neurotransmitter (selective NMDAR agonist), by the effect of one (360 nm) or two photon (720 nm) irradiation
  • Exists as trifluoroacetic acid salted form, ensuring good solubility, stability and low hygroscopicity of the product
  • Highly resistant to hydrolysis at neutral pH
  • Higher quantum yield (ca. 7 times, than MNI-NMDA)
  • Releases NMDA neurotransmitter more rapidly by the effect of two photon irradiation (720 nm) than MNI-NMDA

 

References

• Stereotyped initiation of retinal waves by bipolar cells via presynaptic NMDA autoreceptors.
  Zhang, R. W. et al.  Nat. Commun. (2016)

 

• New caged neurotransmitter analogs selective for glutamate receptor sub-types based on methoxynitroindoline and nitrophenylethoxycarbonyl caging groups.
  Palma-Cerda, F. et al. Neuropharmacology (2012)