Automated Patch Clamp Meets High-Throughput Screening

A new research report published in the December 2016 issue of the Journal of Laboratory Automation (JALA) features a planar patch clamp system with modular design capable of recording up to 384 cells simultaneously. Authors Alison Obergrussberger et al. of Nanion Technologies (Munich, Germany; and Tokyo, Japan) report that the module can be incorporated into different pipetting robots for seamless integration into high-throughput screening processes.
 
The SyncroPatch 384PE maintains high data quality due to tight, in the order of Giga-ohm, seals and flexibility of experimental design. This is an important development in the field of scientific and medical research, particularly for ion channel drug discovery and pre-clinical safety screening of compounds.
 
Ion channels are expressed in almost all living cells and are involved many physiological processes and disease. There are estimated to be around 400 ion channels in the human genome and as therapeutic targets they are still underexploited. Because of their physiological and pathophysiological importance, reliable methods to study ion channels for drug discovery and safety testing are critical.

The gold standard for measuring ion channels remains the patch clamp technique developed by Neher and Sakmann for which they won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1991. However, the conventional patch clamp technique is technically demanding and not suitable for high-throughput screening efforts. The planar patch clamp technique has been introduced over the years in an attempt to automate the technique and increase throughput.
 
Source: Story from Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening. Please note: The content above may have been edited to ensure it is in keeping with Technology Networks' style and length guidelines.