Undergraduate Patch Clamp Labs on Single Ion Channel Electrophysiology in Cell Membranes

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This award to Brown University will provide funds to equip an undergraduate Cell Physiology and Biophysics course, and two undergraduate Independent Study and Honors research project courses, with patch clamp amplifiers, computer interfaces and software for experiments on the electrophysiology of single ion channels in the plasma membranes of excitable cells. Patch clamp recording is a revolutionary electrophysiological technique developed in the late 1970's and early 1980's. It has taken cellular electrophysiology to the molecular level, and is rapidly creating an important new integration of traditionally disparate fields. These funds will provide equipment for 8 workstations, accommodating up to 32 students working in pairs, in split sessions of 16 students each. The major expenses are for interfaces to 8 existing computers, the requisite computer software, and 5 patch amplifiers to supplement 3 already available. Students will learn basic technical skills, the characteristics of representative ion channels, theoretical principles of interpreting channel behavior in terms of likely mechanisms, and an appreciation of significant biological problems that have become tractable by this approach. This project would also significantly upgrade the current teaching equipment from 1960's vacuum tube technology to the lab computer era.