Electrophysiology measures the small electrical signals that let cells communicate, contract, and respond to treatment. We use patch clamp recordings to reveal how ion channels, transporters, and pumps work in living cells, helping turn a biological observation into a clear functional answer. This makes patch clamp a powerful way to assess whether a drug target is functionally active and how a candidate compound affects it.
What we can measure
- Ion-channel and transporter activity. Measure the electrical currents that cross the cell membrane and how they change with a compound, mutation, or disease model.
- Cell excitability. Record membrane voltage and action potentials to understand whether a cell can signal or contract normally.
- Calcium handling. Combine electrical recordings with fluorescence measurements to investigate the calcium signals that link excitation to contraction, especially in heart cells.
- Mechanism, not just effect. Use voltage-clamp and action-potential-clamp protocols, together with quantitative models, to separate overlapping processes and identify likely causes of a change.
How we work
We design experiments around the decision you need to make. Depending on the question, we use whole-cell or perforated patch clamp under carefully controlled conditions, then deliver traceable data and an interpretation grounded in cell physiology. This approach is well suited to comparing control and treated cells, characterising a candidate compound, or testing a disease-relevant cellular phenotype.
Cell models
- Primary cardiomyocytes
- Other excitable cells, including neurons and muscle cells
- Non-excitable cells with measurable ionic currents or transporters
- Engineered and transfected cell lines
Questions this can answer
- Does a candidate compound change the activity of a specific ion channel or transporter?
- Does a mutation or disease model alter the way cells generate electrical signals?
- Are changes in contractility linked to calcium entry, calcium release, or calcium removal?
- Does an observed molecular change have a measurable functional consequence?
Experience
Our cardiac electrophysiology work combines rigorous recording with quantitative analysis. For example, we developed an action-potential-clamp approach to separate calcium pathways that normally influence one another, and have used whole-cell patch clamp, fluorescence microscopy, and modelling to uncover altered calcium handling in cardiomyocytes. This experience helps us plan experiments that produce interpretable answers rather than isolated traces.
Selected publications: Laasmaa, Birkedal & Vendelin (2016) and Laasmaa et al. (2021).