Ion Channel Flux Assays

Creative Bioarray is committed to providing clients with cell-based functional assay screening using a variety of flux assay technologies. Our flux assay services for high-throughput screening of ion channels will accelerate our clients' target channel screening process and drug discovery.

Introduction

Activation of ion channels results in the movement of charged molecular species across the cell membrane, and ion fluxes along a concentration gradient lead to changes in membrane potential. Currently, flux assays that detect functional ion flux through ion channels have been widely used as a tool for screening compounds and are becoming increasingly popular. Functional ion flux assays represent a direct measure of channel activity, which is often determined by researchers using radiolabeled or non-radioactive labels.

The techniques for flux determination of ion channels are currently offered in a fully automated high-throughput format, with the advantage of sensitive, precise, and reproducible measurements, providing accurate drug-rank ordering that matches patch-clamp data. This application is suitable for flux assay of different ion channels, such as sodium, potassium, calcium, and chloride channels. At present, some strategies of non-radiolabeled rubidium-based flux assays combined with ion channel reader (ICR) technology have been successfully applied to the activity analysis of ion channels, which has become a potential technology in modern drug discovery.

Fig. 1 Schematic representation of ion flux and its effect on membrane potential. (Terstappen, 2004)

Ion Flux Assays

Researchers at Creative Bioarray are committed to establishing a variety of protocols to provide clients with ion flux measurement services. We use radioactive flux assays for functional analysis and screening of ion channels of interest that can be radiolabeled. For ion channels that are not available, or need to avoid the use of radioisotopes, we typically perform analysis by atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), which can screen libraries of 100,000 or more compounds.

• Radioactive ion flux assays
• AAS-based nonradioactive ion flux assays
  • Non-radioactive rubidium efflux assay
  • Nonradioactive lithium influx assay
  • Nonradioactive chloride influx assay

Our Services

Our services include but not limited to:

• Flux assays of various physiological ion channels, including:
  • Voltage-gated ion channels, such as sodium, potassium, and calcium channels.
  • Ligand-gated ion channels, such as GABA, nAChR, and TRP channels.
  • Epithelial ion channels.
• Flux assays of surrogate ions, such as thallium, cobalt, and iodide.
• Optimization of ion flux assay technology. We provide technical and expert support for our clients in the development of new assay technologies with functionality, throughput, robustness, sensitivity, specificity, and cost-effectiveness.

Creative Bioarray has proprietary flux assay technologies to accelerate clients' ion channel screening process. Our experienced research team can provide our clients with high-quality scientific reports and data in a short time. If you are conducting target channel screening, please contact us to obtain ion flux assay services.

Reference

1. Terstappen, G. C. Nonradioactive rubidium ion efflux assay and its applications in drug discovery and development. Assay and drug development technologies, 2004, 2(5): 553-559.