Chemogenetics revealed: DREADD occupancy and activation via converted clozapine

DREADD not the designer compound Designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDs) constitute a powerful chemogenetic strategy that can modulate nerve cell activity in freely moving animal preparations. Gomez et al. used radioligand receptor occupancy measurements and in vivo positron emission tomography to show that DREADDs expressed in the brain are not activated by the designer compound CNO (clozapine N -oxide). Instead, they are activated by the CNO metabolite clozapine, a drug with multiple endogenous targets. This may have important implications for the interpretation of results obtained with this popular technology. Science , this issue p. 503