2.3 Whole-cell recording or whole-cell patchīasic technique File:Pipette Puller-en.svg.Neher and Sakmann received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1991 for this work. This discovery made it possible to record the currents of single ion channels for the first time, proving their involvement in fundamental cell processes such as action potential conduction. Erwin Neher and Bert Sakmann developed the patch clamp in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The patch clamp technique is a refinement of the voltage clamp. It can also be applied to the study of bacterial ion channels in specially prepared giant spheroplasts. The technique can be applied to a wide variety of cells, but is especially useful in the study of excitable cells such as neurons, cardiomyocytes, muscle fibers and pancreatic beta cells. The patch clamp technique is a laboratory technique in electrophysiology that allows the study of single or multiple ion channels in cells.
Classical patch clamp setup, with microscope, antivibration table and micro manipulators File:Single channel.pngĪ patch clamp recording reveals transitions between two conductance states of a single ion channel: closed (at top) and open (at bottom).
