Structural determinants of substrates and inhibitors: probing glutamate transporters with 2,4-methanopyrroldidine-2,4-dicarboxylate

Using an intramolecular [2+2] photocyclization 2,4-methanopyrrolidine-2,4-dicarboxylate was prepared as a conformationally locked analogue of glutamate. This compound, in combination with two other pyrrolidine dicarboxylates, has been used to define the structural elements that differentiate substrate and non-substrate inhibitors of a high-affinity, sodium-dependent glutamate transporter.