Analysis of Dendritic Ion Channels

Creative Bioarray is committed to providing clients with professional scientific services and technical support in the research of dendritic ion channels, including recording, biophysical characterization, and functional analysis. Our flexible solutions will contribute to your deep understanding of how dendritic ion channels affect neuronal information processing.

Introduction

Dendrites are broad processes that emerge from the cell body of neurons, and they are able to receive the majority of the synaptic inputs that impinge on neurons. Dendrites possess a large number of ligand-gated and voltage-gated ion channels, which play an important role in determining the shape and integration of synaptic inputs and are critical for processing synaptic signals. Typically, these dendritic ion channels have different density and characteristics from the channels present at the soma. To fully understand synaptic signal processing, it is necessary to assess the properties and function of dendritic ion channels.

Over the past decade, intensive research on somatic ion channels has yielded a wealth of new and exciting information. A variety of rapidly developing techniques have been proven to be applicable in the study of dendritic ion channels. The development of various patch-clamp techniques has allowed direct electrophysiological recordings of dendritic ion channels to assess their biophysical properties and their effects on dendritic activity. Relying on many rapidly developing biological and biophysical methods, researchers have made some progress in the study of dendritic ion channels.

Fig. 1 Structure and function of dendritic HCN channels. (Shah, 2010)

Our Services

Our research team is committed to establishing a variety of technologies in the research field of dendritic ion channels to provide clients with analysis services of these channels. Our first-class technology platform allows electrophysiological recording from the apical dendrites of hippocampal and cortical pyramidal neurons, providing useful information for detailed dynamic analysis, extraction of numerical conductance density, and model construction, thus providing a biological understanding of the function of dendritic channels. Our services include but not limited to:

• We use immunohistochemistry and imaging to provide clients with information about the location and potential function of dendritic ion channels.
• We provide electrophysiological recording to help clients obtain information about the biophysical characteristics of dendritic ion channels.
• We combined patch-clamp and advanced microscopy techniques to help clients achieve electrophysiological recordings under visual guidance from the dendrites of many neurons such as hippocampal and cortical pyramidal cells in the acute brain slice preparation.
• We provide single channel recording and ensemble current analysis to help clients analyze the distribution of ion channels along dendrites and estimate the conductance density gradients along dendrites.

Applications

• Research on the contribution of dendritic ion channels to neuronal cell excitability
• Research on the role of dendritic ion channels in neural network activity
• Research on the trafficking and plasticity of dendritic ion channels

Researchers at Creative Bioarray have rich experience in ion channels and are able to provide analysis services for dendritic ion channels for clients worldwide, accelerating the understanding of the characteristics and functions of these channels. If you are interested in our services, please feel free to contact us for more details.

Reference

1. Shah, M. M. et al. Dendritic ion channel trafficking and plasticity. Trends in neurosciences, 2010, 33(7): 307-316.