Coordination Chemistry: a new way to cage biomolecules

ROBERTO ETCHENIQUE

St Pete Beach

Conferencia; Inter-American Photochemical Society 20th Winter Conference; 2010

Inter-American Photochemical Society

Caged compounds, also called phototriggers, are widely used in biological research.They consist of a chemical entity composed of two parts: the “caged” compound ofinterest, in our case, a relevant biomolecule, and a “cage” moiety that inhibits itsbiological action. Upon irradiation, the cage releases the compound, which can theninteract with the surrounding media. In physiological research, where the cagedcompound is a biomolecule, it is freed into the living cell, tissue or organism.We have recently presented the synthesis, characterization and biological use of anew family of caged neurotransmitters based in a Ruthenium-bipyridine core,suitable for UV, visible and IR irradiation.This family of compounds not only exhibit high quantum yield of photouncaging, butalso allows a low energy excitation (up to 532nm), very fast photolysis kinetics (tensof ns), low toxicity and full 2-photon capabilities with a high functional action crosssection (0.14 GM).We will show several examples of these family and its uses, and a discussion aboutthe promising future of this strategy to cage biomolecules.