Minimized cell usage for stem cell-derived and primary cells on an automated patch clamp system.

Area of Science:

• Pharmacology
• Cell Biology
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Automated patch clamp systems are crucial for high-throughput drug screening.
• Current systems require large cell numbers, limiting use with rare or expensive cells.
• Induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cell-derived cells and primary cells are often limited in availability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel cell application protocol for automated patch clamp.
• To minimize cell usage without compromising data quality.
• To expand the utility of automated patch clamp for rare and primary cell types.

Main Methods:

• Established optimized cell application protocols for the Nanion Patchliner system.
• Tested protocols on Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells, IPS cell-derived neurons and cardiomyocytes, and primary pancreatic islet cells.
• Utilized low cell suspension volumes (5 μl) and optimized cell densities.

Main Results:

• Achieved >80% success rates using only 300-2000 cells per well, depending on cell type.
• Demonstrated successful recordings in standard cell lines, stem cell-derived neurons/cardiomyocytes, and primary islet cells.
• Maintained high data quality despite reduced cell numbers.

Conclusions:

• The new protocol significantly reduces cell requirements for automated patch clamp, by over 150-fold compared to other systems.
• This advancement improves cost-efficiency, especially for expensive and rare cell types.
• The protocol broadens the application of automated patch clamp to primary cells with limited availability.