A chemical and biological approach based on a Photoswitchable Tethered Ligand (PTL) and a modified ionotropic glutamate receptor (LiGluR) was recently developed. The PTL Maleimide-Azobenzene-Glutamate (MAG) utilizes the photochemistry of azobenzene, which isomerizes between cis and trans depending on the irradiation wavelength. MAG, covalently bound via its maleimide moiety to an engineered cysteine residue near the ligand binding domain of LiGluR, provides wavelength-dependent glutamate binding and channel gating. MAG compounds based on �regular� azobenzene are activated by UV light (380 nm), which is scattered by tissue and penetrates poorly. The use of �push-pull� functional group substitution on the azobenzene of MAG allowed us to synthesize a red-shifted MAG (460 nm peak absorption), which we show photo-controls LiGluR in whole-cell patch clamp recordings of HEK293 cells. The red-shifted MAG is activated by broad spectrum visible light and thermally relaxes to inactivity in the dark, yielding a single wavelength visible light PTL.

Synthesis and testing of a red-shifted, fast-relaxing, photoswitchable tethered ligand designed for use with modified glutamate receptors

245th National Meeting (2013)

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