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Submit ReviewKainic acid
Discontinued Product
This product has been withdrawn from sale and is superseded by Kainic acid (synthetic) (Cat. No. 7065)
Description: Kainate agonist; excitant and neurotoxin
Chemical Name: (2S,3S,4S)-Carboxy-4-(1-methylethenyl)-3-pyrrolidineacetic acid
Purity: ≥98% (HPLC)
Biological Activity for Kainic acid
Kainic acid, also known as kainate, is a selective agonist of kainate ionotropic glutamate receptors (EC50 = 0.6 - 7.4 μM) and a partial agonist at AMPA receptors (EC50 = 31 μM - 170 μM). Kainic acid is used to model epilepsy in vivo and to study the mechanisms of neurodegeneration and neurocytosis induced by excess stimulation by kainic acid. Kainate is shown to be involved in amyloidogenic processing of amyloid precursor protein and Aβ peptides in Alzheimer's disease.
Related compounds include synthetic Kainic acid (Cat. No. 7065), the kainate receptor agonist Domoic acid (Cat. No. 0269) and the antagonist NBQX (Cat. No. 0373).
Technical Data for Kainic acid
| Source | Digenea sp. |
| M. Wt | 213.23 |
| Formula | C10H15NO4 |
| Storage | Store at RT |
| Purity | ≥98% (HPLC) |
| CAS Number | 487-79-6 |
| PubChem ID | 10255 |
| InChI Key | VLSMHEGGTFMBBZ-OOZYFLPDSA-N |
| Smiles | C=[C@@](C)[C@@H]1[C@H](CC(O)=O)[C@@H]([C@](O)=O)NC1 |
The technical data provided above is for guidance only. For batch specific data refer to the Certificate of Analysis.
Tocris products are intended for laboratory research use only, unless stated otherwise.
Product Datasheets for Kainic acid
References for Kainic acid
References are publications that support the biological activity of the product.
Watkins and Evans (1981) Excitatory amino acid transmitters. Annu.Rev.Pharmacol.Toxicol. 21 165 PMID: 6112965
Watkins (1978) Excitatory amino acids. Kainic acid as a Tool in Neurobiology. Edited by E 37
Ourdev et al (2019) Kainate receptor activation enhances amyloidogenic processing of APP in astrocytes. Mol.Neurobiol. 56 5095 PMID: 30484111
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Keywords: Kainic acid, Kainic acid supplier, Potent, excitant, neurotoxin, Glutamate, Kainate, Receptors, iGluR, Ionotropic, GluK, 0222, Tocris Bioscience
35 Citations for Kainic acid
Citations are publications that use Tocris products. Selected citations for Kainic acid include:
Chang et al (2014) Seizure-induced reduction in PIP3 levels contributes to seizure-activity and is rescued by valproic acid. Neurobiol Dis 62 296 PMID: 24148856
Neves et al (2013) The LIM homeodomain protein Lhx6 regulates maturation of interneurons and network excitability in the mammalian cortex. Cereb Cortex 23 1811 PMID: 22710612
Ferando and Mody (2013) Altered gamma oscillations during pregnancy through loss of δ subunit-containing GABA(A) receptors on parvalbumin interneurons. Front Neural Circuits 7 144 PMID: 24062647
deCarvalho et al (2013) Aversive cues fail to activate fos expression in the asymmetric olfactory-habenula pathway of zebrafish. Front Neural Circuits 7 98 PMID: 23734103
Shin et al (2008) Mislocalization of h channel subunits underlies h channelopathy in temporal lobe epilepsy. Neurobiol Dis 32 26 PMID: 18657617
Spitzer et al (2019) Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cells Become Regionally Diverse and Heterogeneous with Age. Neuron 101 459 PMID: 30654924
Domin et al (2014) Group III mGlu receptor agonist, ACPT-I, exerts potential neuroprotective effects in vitro and in vivo. Ann Clin Transl Neurol 26 99 PMID: 24402869
Fritsch et al (2009) Pathological alterations in GABAergic interneurons and reduced tonic inhibition in the basolateral amygdala during epileptogenesis. Neuroscience 163 415 PMID: 19540312
Evans (2017) Assembly, secretory pathway trafficking, and surface delivery of kainate receptors is regulated by neuronal activity. Cell Rep 19 2613 PMID: 28636947
Zhao (2017) Signaling by growth/differentiation factor 5 through the bone morphogenetic protein receptortype IB protects neurons against kainic acid-induced neurodegeneration. Neurosci Lett 651 36 PMID: 28458020
Fletcher (2017) Reduced sensory synaptic excitation impairs motor neuron function via Kv2.1 in spinal muscular atrophy. Nat Neurosci 20 905 PMID: 28504671
Szokol et al (2015) Augmentation of Ca(2+) signaling in astrocytic endfeet in the latent phase of temporal lobe epilepsy. J Biol Chem 9 49 PMID: 25762896
Xiao et al (2015) CX3 chemokine receptor 1 deficiency leads to reduced dendritic complexity and delayed maturation of newborn neurons in the adult mouse hippocampus. Front Cell Neurosci 10 772 PMID: 26109952
Spampinato et al (2015) Glial metabotropic glutamate receptor-4 increases maturation and survival of oligodendrocytes. Neurotox Res 8 462 PMID: 25642169
Parrish et al (2015) Methionine increases BDNF DNA methylation and improves memory in epilepsy. Neurobiol Dis 2 401 PMID: 25909085
Chuang et al (2012) Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors γ/mitochondrial uncoupling protein 2 signaling protects against seizure-induced neuronal cell death in the hippocampus following experimental status epilepticus. J Neuroinflammation 9 184 PMID: 22849356
Limó n et al (2019) Electrophysiological evaluation of extracellular spermine and alkaline pH on synaptic human GABAA receptors. Transl Psychiatry 9 218 PMID: 31488811
Hou and Yu (2013) Activity-regulated somatostatin expression reduces dendritic spine density and lowers excitatory synaptic transmission via postsynaptic somatostatin receptor 4. Neural Regen Res 288 2501 PMID: 23233668
Park et al (2016) Involvement of AMPA Receptor and Its Flip and Flop Isoforms in Retinal Ganglion Cell Death Following Oxygen/Glucose Deprivation. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 57 508 PMID: 26868754
Smith et al (2016) Superimposing Status Epilepticus on Neuron Subset-Specific PTEN Haploinsufficient and Wild Type Mice Results in Long-term Changes in Behavior. Sci Rep 6 36559 PMID: 27819284
Horita et al (2012) Specialized motor-driven dusp1 expression in the song systems of multiple lineages of vocal learning birds. PLoS One 7 e42173 PMID: 22876306
Huang et al (2012) Glutamate may be an efferent transmitter that elicits inhibition in mouse taste buds. PLoS One 7 e30662 PMID: 22292013
Rodriguez-Diaz et al (2012) Real-time detection of acetylcholine release from the human endocrine pancreas. Nat Protoc 7 1015 PMID: 22555241
Hitt et al (2010) BACE1-/- mice exhibit seizure activity that does not correlate with sodium channel level or axonal localization. Mol Neurodegener 5 31 PMID: 20731874
Peng et al (2010) Postsynaptic spiking homeostatically induces cell-autonomous regulation of inhibitory inputs via retrograde signaling. J Neurosci 30 16220 PMID: 21123568
Marrocco et al (2012) Anxiety-like behavior of prenatally stressed rats is associated with a selective reduction of glutamate release in the ventral hippocampus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 32 17143 PMID: 23197707
Doyon et al (2011) Efficacy of synaptic inhibition depends on multiple, dynamically interacting mechanisms implicated in chloride homeostasis. J Neurosci 7 e1002149 PMID: 21931544
Morel et al (2018) JIP1-Mediated JNK Activation Negatively Regulates Synaptic Plasticity and Spatial Memory. J Neurosci 38 3708 PMID: 29540552
Balleza-Tapia et al (2018) TrpV1 receptor activation rescues neuronal function and network gamma oscillations from Aβ-induced impairment in mouse hippocampus in vitro. Elife 7 PMID: 30417826
Ferando and Mody (2015) In vitro gamma oscillations following partial and complete ablation of δ subunit-containing GABAA receptors from parvalbumin interneurons. Neuropharmacology 88 91 PMID: 25261782
Bernard et al (2013) Phosphorylation of FMRP and alterations of FMRP complex underlie enhanced mLTD in adult rats triggered by early life seizures. Nat Commun 59 42736 PMID: 23831253
Krook-Magnuson et al (2013) On-demand optogenetic control of spontaneous seizures in temporal lobe epilepsy. J Neurosci 4 1376 PMID: 23340416
Wang and Green (2011) Functional role of neurotrophin-3 in synapse regeneration by spiral ganglion neurons on inner hair cells after excitotoxic trauma in vitro. J Neurosci 31 7938 PMID: 21613508
Elliott-Hunt et al (2004) Galanin acts as a neuroprotective factor to the hippocampus. PLoS Comput Biol 101 5105 PMID: 15041741
Milstein et al (2007) TARP subtypes differentially and dose-dependently control synaptic AMPA receptor gating. Neuron 55 905 PMID: 17880894
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