What is Gigaseal?

A gigaseal is a high-resistance seal in order of giga Ohms formed between cell membrane and patching tool. High-resistance seals are needed in order to be able to record high-quality data from cellular ion channels activities.

How does whole cell patch-clamp work?

The patch-clamp technique involves a glass micropipette forming a tight gigaohm seal with the cell membrane. The micropipette contains a wire bathed in an electrolytic solution to conduct ions. To measure single ion channels, a “patch” of membrane is pulled away from the cell after forming a gigaohm seal.

What does whole cell patch-clamp record?

Whole-cell patch-clamp recording is an electrophysiological technique that allows the study of the electrical properties of a substantial part of the neuron.

What is the difference between cell attached and whole-cell recording?

Whole-cell recording or whole-cell patch The electrode is left in place on the cell, as in cell-attached recordings, but more suction is applied to rupture the membrane patch, thus providing access from the interior of the pipette to the intracellular space of the cell.

What is the difference between patch clamp and voltage-clamp?

In the voltage-clamp configuration, a current is injected into the cell via a negative feedback loop to compensate changes in membrane potential. Recording this current allows conclusions about the membrane conductance. The patch-clamp technique allows the investigation of a small set or even single ion channels.

What is the benefit of whole cell perforated patch recording compared to regular whole cell recording?

The advantage of whole-cell patch clamp recording over sharp electrode technique recording is that the larger opening at the tip of the patch clamp electrode provides lower resistance and thus better electrical access to the inside of the cell.

Why do we need a voltage clamp?

Voltage-clamp allows the investigator to control the transmembrane voltage and subsequently measure current flow through an ion channel after activation. An ion channel can be activated by either a change in transmembrane voltage or a selective ligand, acting as a switching mechanism.

What is the difference between cell-attached and whole-cell recording?

What does voltage clamping do?