Chemogenetics Plasmids

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Background

Chemogenetics is a technique that uses genetically engineered receptors to selectively control and investigate cell signaling pathways. Chemogenetic receptors are activated by small molecules, enabling remote control of signaling within cells expressing these engineered receptors. Chemogenetic receptors are popular in neuroscience, where they can be used to interrogate brain function and examine the relationship between neuronal signaling and behavior. These receptors also have broad applications in several fields and have been used to investigate a variety of cell types and mechanisms.

Chemogenetics Plasmids Available from Addgene

Addgene has a large collection of chemogenetics plasmids that can be used to interrogate cell function in various contexts. We also now offer ready-to-use AAV preparations of select chemogenetic plasmids, which can be used directly for in vivo or in vitro studies. Browse our list of chemogenetics plasmids below. Plasmids with the viral service icon are also offered as viral preparations.

G Protein Chimera Plasmids

G protein chimeras can be used to alter the signalling phenotype of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). These chimeras have been used to study receptor signalling, ligand binding, effector coupling, and other molecular mechanisms of GPCRs. For a user manual on these plasmids, see the supplemental document or user manual created by the depositor.

ID	Name	Gene	Mutation	Depositor Comments	PI
24502	q4wt	Gq alpha	none	This is Gq alpha with an HA epitope engineered into an internal site that does not seem to affect receptor coupling in multiple studies	Conklin
24498	qs5	Gq alpha	Replacement of the five carboxyl-terminal amino acids of Gq alpha with those of Gs alpha	This construct allows some Gs-coupled receptors to stimulate phospholipase C	Conklin
24501	qi5	Gq alpha	Gq alpha with the C-terminal amino acids changed from Gq alpha to Gi alpha residues	This construct allows many Gi-coupled receptors to stimulate phospholipase C	Conklin
24500	qo5	Gq alpha	Gq alpha with the C-terminal amino acids changed from Gq alpha to Go alpha residues	Works the same as qi5 but (for unknown reasons) has a slightly lower basal PLC activity	Conklin
25867	qz5	Gq alpha	Replacement of the five carboxyl-terminal amino acids of Gq alpha with those of Gz alpha	Works the same as qi5	Conklin
24499	sq5	Gs alpha	This is Gs alpha with the C-terminal amino acids changed from Gs alpha to Gq alpha residues	This construct allows some Gq-coupled receptors to stimulate Adenylate cyclase	Conklin