Two new ruthenium-based caged compounds have been championed for their ability to aid a number of simple scientific research techniques.

Caged compounds typically tend to be activated by breaking their photolabile bond with the chemical group ('cage') with light, providing a useful approach for studying molecular mechanisms.

However, RuBi-Glutamate and RuBi-4AP both possess significant advantages over their contemporaries and have been included in the Tocris Bioscience and Columbia University license agreement.

The former, which is excited by visible wavelengths, has high quantum efficiency and can be used at low concentrations, thus reducing the levels of GABAergic transmission displayed by other caged glutamate compounds.

In addition, it requires only a one or two-photon excitation in order to release glutamate - which is the predominant neurotransmitter of the human brain - at rapid speeds of tens of nanoseconds.

Meanwhile, the latter, which is also excited by visible wavelengths, boasts two-photon uncaging abilities and releases a voltage-dependent potassium channel blocker known as 4-AP.

The channels to which this by-product relates are in control of synaptic release and are essential to the smooth operation of the nervous system.

"Compared to currently available ultraviolet light-sensitive caged compounds, RuBi-Glutamate and RuBi-4AP can all be uncaged using longer wavelengths of light," said Rafael Yuste, a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Columbia University.

"[The result is] less scattering and allowing the light source to penetrate deeper into living tissue. This could be key for their future use in vivo," added Professor Yuste, who is also an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and a co-inventor of the technology.

Ruthenium compounds tend to be similar to those of another pgm, osmium, and exhibit at least eight oxidation states.

Source:

Tocris Bioscience Extends Novel Range of Fast, Light-Sensitive Caged Compounds Developed by Columbia University (01/03/10)

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