Application Of Patch-clamp Technique Research Articles

6. Advances in understanding of fast synaptic transmission due to application of patch clamp techniques to brain slices

6. Advances in understanding of fast synaptic transmission due to application of patch clamp techniques to brain slices

Molecular physiology of renal potassium channels.

The application of patch-clamp technique to the study of ion channels showed the enormous diversity of K channels. In the kidney, K channels play an major role in transepithelial K transport, in the regulation of vascular tone, and in cellular proliferation. In the last 5 years, the use of powerful genetic and molecular biological techniques has provided an understanding of the molecular structure of some types of K channels. Although much work remains to be done in this area, the greater challenge will be to integrate the molecular information with the extensive physiological data already available. Finally, the rapidly accumulating knowledge of K channel structure, and the recent appreciation of their possible role in important disease states, such as hypertension, make the study of K channels very exciting.

The calyx-type synapse of the chick ciliary ganglion as a model of fast cholinergic transmission.

The calyx-type synapse of the embryonic chick ciliary ganglion is reviewed as a model of transmitter release from a vertebrate presynaptic nerve terminal. This nerve terminal is extensive in area, enabling the penetration with microelectrodes and the application of patch-clamp techniques. In other respects the calyx synapse is a typical fast-transmitting cholinergic nerve terminal. This synapse has been used to obtain the first recordings of action potentials and calcium currents in a vertebrate presynaptic nerve terminal and is the only preparation in which it has proved possible to record single calcium channels directly from the transmitter release sites. The calyx remains a powerful experimental preparation for the further analysis of the mechanism and control of neurotransmitter release in fast-transmitting nerve terminals.

The everted renal tubule: a methodology for direct assessment of apical membrane function

A technique is described whereby it is possible to evert a 0.5- to 1.0-mm segment of an amphibian renal tubule and perfuse it in vitro. Consequently, the apical membranes of an intact nephron fragment are directly accessible for electrophysiological study. Viability of the cells of everted diluting segments taken from Ambystoma kidney was indicated by 1) failure of the cells to take up trypan blue and 2) the existence of an apical membrane voltage (average 66 mV, cell negative), which decreased predictably in the presence of either 5 mM barium or elevated potassium in the luminal bathing solution. The utility of the everted tubule to patch clamp studies was tested. A large conductance channel that appeared to be selective for potassium could be demonstrated in a cell-attached patch of the apical membrane of an everted initial collecting tubule. The everted tubule preparation not only provides large quantities of apical membrane for patch clamp studies but, more importantly, allows the investigator to control the solutions bathing each membrane surface independently. The application of patch clamp techniques to perfused, everted tubules may then serve to more completely describe the role of the apical membrane in transcellular ion transport.

Electrophysiology of plasma membrane vesicles

In both renal and gastrointestinal physiology, it has become popular to study epithelial transport phenomena using vesicles isolated from the apical and basolateral cell membranes. Transport in vesicle preparations is usually monitored with radioactive tracers, but more recently attention has been directed to electrophysiological methods. As it is impossible to measure the electrical properties of membranes in small vesicles (less than 500 nm diam) with classical electrophysiological techniques, indirect methods have to be employed. In this review I focus on the application of voltage-sensitive optical probes to measure membrane potentials in brush border membrane vesicles. Optical signals are calibrated with diffusion potentials generated with known ion gradients in the presence of ionophores, e.g., EKS with K gradients in the presence of valinomycin. Membrane potential measurements can be used 1) to illustrate the specificity and kinetics of sugar-, amino acid-, and carboxylic acid-Na cotransport systems in brush border membranes, and 2) to determine the ion permeability of brush border membranes. All organic solutes known to be transported by Na cotransport across brush border membranes depolarize the membrane in a Na-dependent, saturable manner. The results agree, both qualitatively and quantitatively, with electrophysiological data obtained in the intact renal tubule and with tracer uptake in vesicles. Bi-ionic potential measurements demonstrate that brush border membranes are permselective to anions and cations, but there are indications that the permeabilities are somewhat dependent on the method of vesicle preparation and the experimental conditions. However, electrical potential measurements provide insight into the mechanisms of ion transport in vesicle preparations, and the application of patch-clamp techniques should provide further gains in the future.