State-of-the-art multi-electrode array recording system for a core facility serving twelve plus faculty members from eight departments at the University of Waterloo

多电极阵列(MEA)记录系统是一种突破性的设备，使研究人员能够同时监测*数百个细胞的电活动，从单细胞生物体到组织细胞*，如神经元或心肌细胞。MEA设备是测量单细胞真核生物电活动所必需的，用传统的微电极记录是无法获得的。*斯普费尔实验室已经从单细胞真核生物中克隆并表达了第一个电压门控钠离子和钙离子通道，并于2018年夏天使用Axion*BiosSystems Maestro Edge和Automate Science MED64 Presto提供的MEA演示单元成功地测量了它们在活体脊椎动物中的电活动。NSERC资助的研究提供了第一个证据，表明动物神经系统中的电活动植根于一个早期模板，该模板是由单细胞真核生物之间的细胞间钠离子信号提供的，可能起源于10亿多年前的祖先。自20世纪90年代以来，大卫·斯普费尔发表了*关于电兴奋性起源的文章(斯普费尔等人)。1996 J.Exp.比奥尔。199：941-948,1996)，是为数不多的走在这一领域前沿的人之一(例如。福克斯等人。生理学前沿，2018年)。*心脏动作电位是由无脊椎动物心脏中独特的无脊椎动物*钠传导Cav3 T型通道产生的，而不是脊椎动物心脏中存在的NAV1钠通道(Senatore等人，J.Biol。化学，289(17)：11952-69，*2014年；关等人。J.GenPhysiol.，在*2018年回顾中)。这些不同的离子通道如何对完整心脏的电活动做出贡献，如心跳计时以及沿连接的心脏细胞片的去极化和复极化波的传播，只有使用MEA设备才能获得。*还需要MEA设备来分析钙感应在带有钙传感器钙调蛋白的Cav3型通道中的作用，钙传感器钙调素*被发现*调节心脏起搏(Chemin，J.，等人，J.Biol)。化学。292(49)：20010-20031，*2017年)。*Yim博士专门分析正在发展的神经元网络中的纳米级变化，并正在进行使用MEA设备测量人类IPSC来源的神经元培养中的神经活动的研究。*来自8个不同系的12名共同申请者正在进行研究，涉及滑铁卢大学共享多用户空间的MEA设备。

A multi-electrode array (MEA) recording system is a ground-breaking*device that enables researchers to monitor the electrical activity from*hundreds of cells at once, from single celled organisms to cells from tissues,*such as neurons or cardiomyocytes. An*MEA device is necessary to measure electrical activity in single cell*eukaryotes, which is not accessible in recordings with conventional*micro-electrodes. ******The Spafford lab has*cloned and expressed the first voltage–gated sodium and calcium channels from*single cell eukaryotes, and successfully measured their electrical activity in living*choanoflagellates using MEA demonstration units provided by the Axion*Biosystems Maestro Edge and Automate Scientific MED64 Presto in summer 2018. NSERC funded research provides the first*evidence that the electrical activity in animals' nervous systems, was rooted*on an early template provided from the inter-cellular sodium ion signalling between*single cell eukaryotes, in likely ancestors originating more than one billion*years ago. David Spafford has published*on the origins of electrical excitability since the 1990s (Spafford et al. 1996 J. Exp. Biol. 199: 941-948, 1996), and is one of a few who are at*the fore-front of this field (eg. Fux et*al. Frontiers in Physiology, 2018). ******The*cardiac action potential is generated with a uniquely invertebrate,*sodium-conducting Cav3 T-type channels in the invertebrate heart, in lieu of Nav1 sodium*channels present in the vertebrate heart (Senatore et al., J. Biol. Chem., 289(17):11952-69,*2014; Guan et al. J. Gen Physiol., in*review 2018). How these differing ion*channels contribute to the electrical activity in the intact heart such as heart*beat timing and the propagation of depolarizing and repolarizing waves along*the sheet of connected heart cells is only available using an MEA device. ******An MEA device is also required for analysing the*role of calcium-sensing in Cav3-Type channels with calcium-sensor calmodulin which*was discovered to regulate heart pace-making (Chemin, J., et al., J. Biol. Chem. 292(49):20010-20031,*2017). ******Dr. Yim specializes in analyses*of the nano-scale changes in developing neuronal networks, and has ongoing*research in measuring the nerve activity in human IPSC-derived neuronal cultures,*using an MEA device. ******Twelve plus*co-applicants from eight different departments have ongoing research involving an MEA device, for a shared multi-user space at the University of*Waterloo.