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

Williams, Stephen R. and Wozny, Christian (2011) Errors in the measurement of voltage-activated ion channels in cell-attached patch-clamp recordings. Nature Communications, 2. 242. ISSN 2041-1723 (https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms1225)

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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.

ORCID iDs

Williams, Stephen R. and Wozny, Christian ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4220-2033;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)