Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings were made from morphologically identified ganglion cells in the intact retina of developing ferrets. As early as 3 d after birth, all ganglion cells exhibited bursts of spontaneous activity, with the interval between bursts gradually decreasing with maturity. By 2 weeks after birth, ganglion cells could be morphologically differentiated into three major classes...

Hypoxia is a common factor of numerous ocular diseases that lead to dysfunctions and loss retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) with subsequent vision loss. High-voltage-activated calcium channels are the main source entry into neurons. Their activity plays central role in different signaling processes health diseases, such as enzyme activation, gene transcription, synaptic transmission, or onset cell ...

PURPOSE To investigate whether lens fiber cells isolated and maintained under calcium-free conditions exhibit distinct membrane currents. METHODS Fiber cells were isolated from the cortical portion of neonate rat lenses using a trypsin digestion protocol and were maintained in EDTA-buffered Ringer's solutions. Membrane currents were recorded from fiber bundles using the whole-cell patch-clamp...

Ion channels are integral membrane proteins that regulate the flux of ions across the cell membrane. They are involved in nearly all physiological processes, and malfunction of ion channels has been linked to many diseases. Until recently, high-throughput screening of ion channels was limited to indirect, e.g. fluorescence-based, readout technologies. In the past years, direct label-free biophy...

The authors describe here the procedures for using the gelatin half-embedding method to obtain thin spinal cord slices with attached dorsal roots and performing visually guided whole-cell patch-clamp recording of postsynaptic currents evoked by primary afferent fibers in rat spinal dorsal horn. A segment of spinal cord with attached dorsal roots was prepared and half-embedded in an agar block w...

Much of what we know about the properties of ion channels in cell membranes has come from experiments using voltage clamp. In general, the method allows ion flow across a cell membrane to be measured as electric current, whilst the membrane voltage is held under experimental control with a feedback amplifier. The method was first developed by Cole (1949) and Hodgkin et al. (1952) for use with t...