Abstract
The ability to record the’ real-time’ movement of a protein is quite enthralling-in effect this is what we achieve when we record the activity of an individual ion channel. Clearly we do not ’see’ amino acids that make up the ion channel undergo the conformational changes that must occur, but we observe the consequences: the current flow through the ion channel pore. The currents that flow are very small, a few picoamperes (10?12 A), and, in the case of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor found at the muscle endplate for example, represent the net movement of about 25,000 monovalent ions per millisecond through the channel pore. These currents are recorded using an electrophysiological technique termed ’patch-clamp recording’. The term ’patch’ is self-evident; we record ion channel activity from a small area of membrane. The term ’clamp’ refers to the fact that we maintain this membrane at a constant potential (for a description of the electronics that achieve ’voltage-clamp’ see Chapter 2).
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Recommended Reading
Aidley, D. J. and Stanfield, P. R. (1996) Ion Channels: Molecules in Action. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Ashley, R. H. (ed.) (1995) Ion Channels: A Practical Approach. IRL Press, Oxford, UK.
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Hille, B. (1992) Ionic Channels of Excitable Membranes, 2nd ed. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA.
Neher, E. and Sakmann, B. (eds.) (1995) Single Channel Recording, 2nd ed. Plenum Press, New York.
Ogden, D. C. (ed.) (1994) Microelectrode Techniques: The Plymouth Workshop Handbook, 2nd ed. Company of Biologists Limited, Cambridge.
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Wyllie, D.J.A. (2002). Single-Channel Recording. In: Walz, W., Boulton, A.A., Baker, G.B. (eds) Patch-Clamp Analysis. Neuromethods, vol 35. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1385/1-59259-276-7:69
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1385/1-59259-276-7:69
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