Automated Internal Perfusion with the Port-a-Patch

Nanion Technologies introduces the Internal Perfusion System for the Port-a-Patch; a device for continuous and automated exchange of internal solutions during patch clamp recordings.

Using the internal perfusion system, ion channels regulated by internal binding sites for second messengers can be easily modulated or compounds acting on the internal side of the membrane like e.g. hERG active substances can be directly applied internally.

Planar patch clamp chips offer the possibility to perfuse the extracellular as well as the intracellular side of the cell membrane. With conventional patch-clamping, the latter is commonly very difficult, due to the laborious set ups required and the diffusion limited perfusion within the long tapered shaft of a patch pipette.

“The Internal Perfusion System for the Port-a-Patch offers unprecedented possibilities for patch clamp investigations of substances affecting a cell from the inside. High quality whole-cell recordings can be collected during perfusion of the cell’s internal membrane side. This device is totally unique in its experimental possibilities and ease-of-use.” says Andrea Brüggemann, CSO and managing director, Nanion Technologies.

The automated Internal Perfusion System is an add-on to the Port-a-Patch with a dedicated chip holder containing fluidics and a specially designed shielding compartment with an inverted electrode arrangement for bath and reference electrode. The Internal Perfusion System is a “plug-and-play” device, fully compatible the Port-a-Patch as well as Nanion’s 8-channel perfusion system.