2. Academic Validation
  3. RuBi-Glutamate: Two-Photon and Visible-Light Photoactivation of Neurons and Dendritic spines

RuBi-Glutamate: Two-Photon and Visible-Light Photoactivation of Neurons and Dendritic spines

  • Front Neural Circuits. 2009 May 27:3:2. doi: 10.3389/neuro.04.002.2009.
Elodie Fino 1,  Roberto Araya,  Darcy S Peterka,  Marcelo Salierno,  Roberto Etchenique,  Rafael Yuste
Affiliations

Affiliation

  • 1 Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University New York, NY, USA.
PMID: 19506708 DOI: 10.3389/neuro.04.002.2009
Abstract

We describe neurobiological applications of RuBi-Glutamate, a novel caged-glutamate compound based on ruthenium photochemistry. RuBi-Glutamate can be excited with visible wavelengths and releases glutamate after one- or two-photon excitation. It has high quantum efficiency and can be used at low concentrations, partly avoiding the blockade of GABAergic transmission present with other caged compounds. Two-photon uncaging of RuBi-Glutamate has a high spatial resolution and generates excitatory responses in individual dendritic spines with physiological kinetics. With laser beam multiplexing, two-photon RuBi-Glutamate uncaging can also be used to depolarize and fire pyramidal neurons with single-cell resolution. RuBi-Glutamate therefore enables the photoactivation of neuronal dendrites and circuits with visible or two-photon LIGHT sources, achieving single cell, or even single spine, precision.

Keywords

RuBi-GABA; Ruthenium; bipyridine; uncaging.

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