71st National Congress of The Italian Society of Physiology

We are happy to be co-sponsoring the 71st National Congress of The Italian Society of Physiology. This event will be virtual.

Our very own Beatrice Badone will give a talk on 7th September at 16.30 (Hall D). Beatrice will present Sophion’s data on High throughput screening using QPatch II and Qube 384 systems: electrophysiological evaluation of primary neurons, glial cells and hiPSC-derived motor neurons.

Abstract:

The QPatch II and Qube 384 are two automated patch-clamp (APC) systems useful for evaluating the electrophysiological properties of different cell models, with the possibility to perform high throughput compound screening for drug discovery. These systems provide high fidelity recordings which, in combination with accurate, low volume applications, make them ideal for studying both voltage- and ligand-gated ion channels. With a rapidly increasing number of ion channels identified as potential therapeutic targets in neurological diseases, there is an urgency of finding valid neuronal cell models. Among these, primary brain cells and human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs)-derived neurons are promising physiological models for evaluating ion channels properties and potential drugs. Here we used our APC systems for studying both voltage-gated (Na, K ) and ligand-gated (GABA ) ion channels by comparing two different brain models: i) primary neurons and astrocytes dissociated from mouse and rat brains, respectively; and ii) hiPSC-derived motor neurons. Patch-clamp recordings require healthy membranes for high resistance sealing; however, different isolation methods may alter the membrane composition and change intracellular characteristics. Here we demonstrate that the electrophysiological properties of both brain cell models are maintained during APC recordings, confirming that both QPatch II and Qube 384 are powerful platforms for investigating brain cell models.

You can read much more about the event here.