Caged neurotransmitters are widely used to study neurobiological processes such as synaptic transmission and plasticity. However, uncaging has been primarily restricted to in vitro and ex vivo experimental systems. Using caged neurotransmitters in vivo has posed a huge hurdle because photoactivatable cages bind to GABA-A receptors, acting as competitive antagonists towards GABA. This reduced inhibition leads to epileptiform-like activity, which can cause problems for circuit level studies in vivo. To circumvent this off-target effect, a recent publication introduces a new caged glutamate: G5-MNI-glutamate. Using a novel technique called ‘cloaking,’ GABA-A receptor antagonism is abolished, opening up new possibilities for future in vivo studies with caged neurotransmitters.

中文翻译：

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隐藏的笼状谷氨酸消除了脱靶的GABA-A受体拮抗作用，为神经科学打开了新的大门。

笼状神经递质被广泛用于研究神经生物学过程，如突触传递和可塑性。但是，开瓶主要限于体外和离体实验系统。在体内使用笼状神经递质构成了一个巨大的障碍，因为可光激活的笼与GABA-A受体结合，成为GABA的竞争性拮抗剂。这种减少的抑制作用导致癫痫样样活性，这可能引起体内电路水平研究的问题。为了避免这种脱靶效应，最近的出版物引入了一种新的笼状谷氨酸：G5-MNI-谷氨酸。使用一种称为“隐身术”的新技术，GABA-A受体拮抗作用被消除，这为使用笼状神经递质的体内研究开辟了新的可能性。