Dendrimer Conjugation Enables Multiphoton Chemical Neurophysiology Studies with an Extended π-Electron Caging Chromophore.

ABSTRACT: We have developed a caged neurotransmitter using an extended π-electron chromophore for efficient multiphoton uncaging on living neurons. Widely studied in a chemical context, such chromophores are inherently bioincompatible due to their highly lipophilic character. Attachment of two polycarboxylate dendrimers, a method we call "cloaking", to a bisstyrylthiophene (or BIST) core effectively transformed the chromophore into a water-soluble optical probe, whilst maintaining the high two-photon absorption of over 500 GM. Importantly, the cloaked caged compound was biologically inert at the high concentrations required for multiphoton chemical physiology. Thus, in contrast to non-cloaked BIST compounds, the BIST-caged neurotransmitter can be safely delivered onto neurons in acutely isolated bra

SUBMITTER: Richers MT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6707848 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature