Your Top Technical Questions: June 2025
At Hello Bio, we pride ourselves on the high quality and reliability of our products — but we know that even the best tools can raise a few practical questions from time to time. Whether it’s about storage conditions, shelf life, or how to get the best results in the lab, our customers often reach out with quick queries about how to use our products effectively.
In this new monthly feature, our in-house scientists and customer support team will share answers to some of the most frequently asked technical questions — along with helpful tips, product details, and direct links to the relevant products and our more detailed FAQ pages.
Our first two featured products are PPDA and Deschloroclozapine dihydrochloride (DCZ) (water soluble):
Q - Our lab uses Hello Bio’s PPDA and we dissolve it in DMSO. What temperature should we store the resulting solution at?
A - Great question! Our general guidance for storage of solutions is as follows:
We recommend preparing and using your solutions on the same day. However, if this isn’t possible and you need to prepare stock solutions beforehand, you should aliquot out the solution into tightly sealed vials and store at -20°C. We generally recommend that these will be usable for up to one month. You should also allow the product to equilibrate to RT for at least one hour before opening and using, and ensure no precipitation is present.
What is PPDA used for?
PPDA is most commonly used in neuropharmacology and neuroscience research to investigate the role of NMDA receptor subtypes in synaptic transmission, plasticity, and neurodegenerative diseases. As a potent and selective antagonist for the GluN2C and GluN2D subunits of the NMDA receptor, PPDA helps researchers dissect the contributions of these specific subunits to NMDA receptor-mediated signaling. It is particularly useful in studies exploring excitotoxicity, neuroprotection, and the mechanisms underlying conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, where NMDA receptor dysfunction is implicated.
Q - We have purchased DCZ which has now been dissolved in Milli Q under sterile conditions. Is it possible to store the solution for longer than a month? My experiments will last around 3 months and I was wondering if we could keep the dissolved product at -80° for a longer time period?
A - Thank you for your questions. We have undertaken stability testing on solutions of DCZ (deschloroclozapine) dihydrochloride (HB9126) stored at -20°c for one month and observed no decrease in purity. However, we haven’t specifically tested beyond this timeframe (or at -80°c). We therefore recommended storing according to our standard guidelines which allow for up to one month of storage. Before use, please allow the product to equilibrate to room temperature for at least one hour to ensure the solution is free of precipitation before use.
What is DCZ used for?
DCZ is widely used in chemogenetics research as a highly potent and selective DREADD (Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs) agonist. It allows scientists to precisely control neuronal activity in vivo using engineered receptors like hM3Dq (to activate neurons) and hM4Di (to inhibit neurons). Thanks to its excellent brain penetrance, low off-target effects, and rapid onset of action, DCZ is ideal for experiments in both rodents and non-human primates. Researchers commonly use DCZ to study neural circuits, behavior, memory, and neurological or psychiatric disease models — with more precision and fewer side effects than older DREADD agonists like CNO.
More technical support & advice from the Hello Bio team
If you have a question about any of the products from our extensive range, please contact us.
You’ll also find a wide range of frequently asked questions here:
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Technical resources
Try our Molarity Calculator: a quick and easy way to calculate the mass, volume or concentration required for making a solution.
Try our Dilution Calculator: an easy way to work out how to dilute stock solutions of known concentrations
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