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Errors in the measurement of voltage-activated ion channels in cell-attached patch-clamp recordings

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  • Stephen R. Williams

    (Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland
    Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology)

  • Christian Wozny

    (Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology)

Abstract

Patch-clamp recording techniques have revolutionized understanding of the function and sub-cellular location of ion channels in excitable cells. The cell-attached patch-clamp configuration represents the method of choice to describe the endogenous properties of voltage-activated ion channels in the axonal, somatic and dendritic membrane of neurons, without disturbance of the intracellular milieu. Here, we directly examine the errors associated with cell-attached patch-clamp measurement of ensemble ion channel activity. We find for a number of classes of voltage-activated channels, recorded from the soma and dendrites of neurons in acute brain-slices and isolated cells, that the amplitude and kinetics of ensemble ion channel activity recorded in cell-attached patches is significantly distorted by transmembrane voltage changes generated by the flow of current through the activated ion channels. We outline simple error–correction procedures that allow a more accurate description of the density and properties of voltage-activated channels to be incorporated into computational models of neurons.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen R. Williams & Christian Wozny, 2011. "Errors in the measurement of voltage-activated ion channels in cell-attached patch-clamp recordings," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 2(1), pages 1-9, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:2:y:2011:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms1225
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1225
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