High throughput screening of ion channels

Abstract

Multi-well plates having contoured well designs allow multi-stage high throughput parallel assaying of ion channels or ion transporters. A well of a multi- well plate has a bottom region that is sized and shaped to simultaneous accommodate a sensing electrode and a pipette for delivering, e.g., test compounds, wash fluid, and optionally ligands. Such multi-well plates may be coupled with an instrument having a pipette head and an electrode plate. Such arrangement facilitates fluidic contact between cells and fluids provided via a pipette. It also facilitates washing of wells with buffers or other wash solutions to allow serial exposure of test cells to various reagents or other stimuli. Generally, the design allows control and test experiments to be performed on the same cell (or cells) in a single well.

Description

Background technique [0001] Ion channels are membrane proteins present in every cell of every living organism. This channel plays a key role in cellular function by controlling the flow of ions into and out of the cell. Not surprisingly, ion channels constitute a very important class of drug targets. To efficiently develop new drugs, researchers need methods and devices that allow high-throughput screening of compounds (drug candidates) through their effects on ion channels. The drug screening methods and devices require means for measuring ion channel activity and means for administering compounds to ion channels. [0002] Ion channels are usually studied using the so-called patch clamp technique. The technique involves measuring the electrical signals (current and / or voltage) of individual cells. The cells are arranged in the device such that the magnitude of the electrical signal is directly related to the state of the ion channels, in particular the amount of current t...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0004] Unfortunately, current patch clamp setups suffer from a number of shortcomings, esp

Images