Description

New products from Abcam Biochemicals will support research into neurodegeneration and drug addiction

Bristol and Cambridge, UK, April 08, 2013: Abcam Plc., a producer and distributor of high quality protein research tools, and Columbia University, announced today that they have entered into an exclusive license agreement for two novel pH-responsive fluorescent false neurotransmitters (FFNs). FFNs are probes which act as optical tracers, allowing imaging of neurotransmitter release from individual presynaptic terminals in the brain. Under the terms of the agreement, Abcam Biochemicals will provide the FFN compounds to its customers as part of the Abcam Biochemicals range, to support both fundamental and applied neurobiological research, including neurodegeneration and drug addiction.

The two FFNs licenced by Abcam are FFN102 and FFN202, which are first-of-a-kind small molecules that act as pH sensors. FFN102, which allows measurement of activity at dopamine synapses, enables the further study of synaptic plasticity by allowing optical imaging of dopaminergic presynaptic terminals. FFN202 may be used to screen drugs and other molecules to examine their effects on the pH of secretory vesicles.

Both FFN102 and FFN202 are sufficiently bright, photostable and suitable for two-photon and standard fluorescence microscopy and are compatible with GFP tags.

Steve Roome, general manager of Abcam Biochemicals explains “This is now our third collaboration with Columbia University, and we are delighted to be working with them again. Entering into such a license agreement will allow us to offer the ground-breaking FFN102 (Mini102) and FFN202 (Mini202) compounds to researchers, and both are now available as part of the Abcam Biochemicals range.”