Abstract
The cis and trans isomers of the photoisomerizable compound, 3,3'-bis-[α-(trimethylammonium)methyl]azobenzene (Bis-Q), were purified by high-performance liquid chromatography using the ion-pair partitioning techique on a reverse-phase column. Solutions of cis-Bis-Q are stable at -20°C; at 25°C, thermal isomerization proceeds at a rate of 0.65%/day, cis-Bis-Q is less than 1% as potent a nicotinic agonist as the trans configuration. At concentrations of 1.5 μM or less, cis-Bis-Q exerts little or no blockade of the conductances induced by agonists. In voltage-clamped Electrophorus electroplaques exposed to cis-Bis-Q, laser flashes induce cis→trans photoisomerizations and increase the agonist-induced current by a factor of 20 within a few milliseconds.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 344-349 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Molecular pharmacology |
Volume | 23 |
Issue number | 2 |
State | Published - 1983 |