Physiology 3140A Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Voltage Clamp, Inside Out Music, Patch Clamp
19 Nov 2016
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Document Summary
Current is directly proportional to the electrical potential and inversely proportional to the resistance of that membrane. The patch clamp method is used to study the properties of a small patch of membrane. In this technique, a glass pipette with a very small opening is used to make contact with a tiny area or notch of neuronal membrane. After the application of a small amount of suction to the back of the pipette, the seal between pipette and membrane becomes so tight that no ions can ow between the pipette and the membrane. Thus, all the ions that ow when single ion channel opens must ow into the pipette. The resulting electrical current, though small, can be measured with an ultrasensative electronic ampli er connected to the pipette. This arrangement is the cell-attached patch clamp recording method. A record of the current owing through a single ion channel reveals when the channel is in an open or closed state.
