| abstract |
The present invention is directed to conjugates of chromophores with agonistic ligands directed to ligand-gated ion channels (LGICs) of the Cys loop-family. The conjugated ligands bind specifically and with high affinity to their cognate receptors, allowing to measure directly the binding of these ligands to the receptors, to quantify the affinity of unlabelled compounds for the receptor, to detect receptor activation, and to inspect and image presence of and behaviour of said receptors in living or fixed cells or tissues, either in situ or ex vivo, or on (semi-) purified receptor preparations. |