Patch Clamp Technique and Its Application

The patch clamp technique developed on the basis of voltage clamp and it enables to record electrical signals (channel current) from localized regions of membranes on cell through high resistance seals between patch pipette and cell membranes.It has four recording modes,including cell attached,inside out,outside out and conventional whole cell mode. In addition,the patch clamp technique combines with other techniques,such as the Fura 2 microfluorimetry for measuring the concentration of Ca 2+ ,electrochemical detection with carbon fiber electrode and single cell reverse transcription of RNA followed by polymerase chain reaction(RT PCR).In a word,the patch clamp provides a useful tool for further electrophysiology pharmacology,pathology,cell biology,molecular biology and other life sciences.