Enhancing ion channel research accessibility and productivity with automated electrophysiology

“离子通道”是存在于所有细胞细胞膜中的蛋白质。它们允许并控制钠、钾、钙和氯等离子在细胞内外之间的运动；这种运动是维持健康细胞环境的关键。离子通道也支持肌肉、心脏和神经组织中电活动的产生。离子通道功能障碍与许多疾病有关，包括囊性纤维化、心律失常、神经和肌肉疾病。离子通道也是一些临床使用药物的靶点。它们都是新药物治疗的有吸引力的靶点，也调解了一些治疗中不必要的“脱靶”副作用。几十年来，研究健康和疾病中的离子通道的黄金标准方法包括使用一种称为“膜片钳”的专业方法记录它们的电活动。传统的“手动”膜片钳方法涉及实验者一次做一个记录，使用一个精细锥形的玻璃记录“电极”应用于单个细胞的表面。这种方法是非常熟练和费力的。因此，广泛的努力已作出简化和自动化膜片钳过程。已经开发出适合在工业环境中用于筛选新药的方法。然而，大规模自动化膜片钳系统权衡了易用性和对记录质量进行多次测量的能力；大多数系统难以与手动膜片钳的数据质量相匹配。然而，最近出现了一种名为QPatch Compact的设备。这是一种安装在工作台上的、独立的自动化设备，它结合了自动膜片钳的优点，以及与手动膜片钳类似的严格控制实验条件和记录质量的能力。布里斯托尔大学是研究来自不同身体组织的离子通道的领先中心。我们寻求QPatch紧凑型自动膜片钳系统，主要有两个目标。首先，该系统将加速离子通道的研究，便于查询离子通道（天）功能和药物效应（吞吐量是手动记录的8倍）。其次，由于该设备是为那些没有专业知识的人设计的，它将向更广泛的研究群体开放离子通道研究。因此，QPatch Compact将在理解正常和患病离子通道功能以及确定通过离子通道调节工作的新治疗方法方面取得更广泛的进展。

"Ion channels" are proteins present in the cell membrane of all cells. They permit and control the movement of ions such as sodium, potassium, calcium and chloride between the cell exterior and interior; such movement is key for maintenance of a healthy cell environment. Ion channels also underpin the generation of electrical activity in muscle, heart and nervous tissue. Ion channel dysfunction has been implicated in many pathologies, including cystic fibrosis, cardiac arrhythmias and nerve and muscle disorders. Ion channels are also targets of some clinically used drugs. They are both attractive targets for novel drug treatments and mediate unwanted "off-target" side effects of some treatments.For decades, the gold-standard approach to the study of ion channels in health and disease has involved recording their electrical activity using a specialist method called "patch-clamp". The traditional 'manual' patch-clamp method involves an experimenter making a single recording at a time, using a finely tapered glass recording 'electrode' applied to the surface of a single cell. This method is highly skilled and laborious. Consequently, extensive efforts have been made to simplify and automate the patch-clamp process. Methods have been developed that are suitable for use in an industrial setting for the screening of new drugs. However, large scale automated patch-clamp systems trade off ease of use and ability to make multiple measurements against recording quality; it is difficult for most systems to match the quality of data from manual patch-clamp. However, recently, a device has become available called the QPatch Compact. This is a bench-mounted, self-contained automated device that combines the advantages of automated patch-clamp with the ability to tightly control experimental conditions and recording quality similar to manual patch-clamp.The University of Bristol is a leading centre for research on ion channels from different body tissues. We seek a QPatch Compact automated patch-clamp system with two main objectives in mind. First, the system will accelerate ion channel research, facilitating the ability to interrogate ion channel (dys)function and drug effects (with 8-fold the throughput of manual recording). Second, because the device has been designed for use by those without specialist expertise, it will open ion channel research to a wider research constituency. Thus, the QPatch Compact will enable more extensive progress to be made in understanding normal and diseased ion channel function and the identification of novel therapeutic approaches that work through ion channel modulation.