Using Automated Patch Clamp for recordings of neuronal action potentials

Human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) are used for the generation of neuronal subtypes and neurological disease models. Electrophysiological measurements of ion-channel currents and action potentials are important functional indicators in these models. However, in practice, the intercellular variability in functional maturity within a population of hiPSC-derived neurons has made such studies challenging, especially in combination with the low-throughput nature of manual electrophysiological experiments.

The study includes:

• A Qube assay for functional characterization and disease evaluation of hiPSC-derived neurons yielding a whole-cell success rate of ~ 60 %
• Electrophysiological profiles of three hiPSC neuron cell lines, showing the percentage of neurons in which we could measure ion-channel currents (voltage- and ligand-gated) and action potentials
• A functional classification of hiPSC-derived neurons based on single-cell action potential firing pattern.