Université de Fribourg

A simple reaction for dna sensing and chemical delivery

Janett, Elia ; Diep, Kim-Long ; Fromm, Katharina M. ; Bochet, Christian G.

In: ACS Sensors, 2020, vol. 5, no. 8, p. 2338–2343

Reactions templated by nucleic acids are currently at the heart of applications in biosensing and drug release. The number of chemical reactions selectively occurring only in the presence of the template, in aqueous solutions, and at room temperature and able to release a chemical moiety is still very limited. Here, we report the use of the p-nitrophenyl carbonate (NPC) as a new reactive...

Université de Fribourg

Activity-dependent structural plasticity of perisynaptic astrocytic domains promotes excitatory synapse stability

Bernardinelli, Yann ; Randall, Jerome ; Janett, Elia ; Nikonenko, Irina ; König, Stéphane ; Jones, Emma Victoria ; Flores, Carmen E. ; Murai, Keith K. ; Bochet, Christian G. ; Holtmaat, Anthony ; Muller, Dominique

In: Current Biology, 2014, vol. 24, no. 15, p. 1679–1688

Excitatory synapses in the CNS are highly dynamic structures that can show activity- dependent remodeling and stabilization in response to learning and memory. Synapses are enveloped with intricate processes of astrocytes known as perisynaptic astrocytic processes (PAPs). PAPs are motile structures displaying rapid actin-dependent movements and are characterized by Ca²⁺ elevations in...

Université de Fribourg

Synthesis of FMRFaNV, a photoreleasable caged transmitter designed to study neuron–glia interactions in the central nervous System

Janett, Elia ; Bernardinelli, Yann ; Müller, Dominique ; Bochet, Christian G.

In: Bioconjugate Chemistry, 2015, vol. 26, no. 12, p. 2408–2418

Neuroscience studies require technologies able to deliver compounds with both scale and timing compatibility with morphological and physiological synaptic properties. In this light, two-photon flash photolysis has been extensively used to successfully apply glutamate or other neurotransmitters at the synaptic level. However, the set of commercially available caged compounds is restricted and...

Université de Fribourg

Cell-Permeant and photocleavable chemical inducer of dimerization

Zimmermann, Mirjam ; Cal, Ruben ; Janett, Elia ; Hoffmann, Viktor ; Bochet, Christian G. ; Constable, Edwin ; Beaufils, Florent ; Wymann, Matthias P.

In: Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2014, vol. 53, no. 18, p. 4717–4720

Chemical inducers of dimerization (CIDs) have been developed to orchestrate protein dimerization and translocation. Here we present a novel photocleavable HaloTag- and SNAP-tag-reactive CID (MeNV-HaXS) with excellent selectivity and intracellular reactivity. Excitation at 360 nm cleaves the methyl-6-nitroveratryl core of MeNV-HaXS. MeNV-HaXS covalently links HaloTag- and SNAP-tag fusion...