Biophysical Society 60th Annual Meeting

Room 513: Tuesday, March 1 12:30 pm–2:00 pm Nanion Technologies GmbH Measure More Membrane: Cells, Bilayers and Transporter Activity As the title suggests, this workshop has one common denominator: mem- branes and the measurements thereof. We will showcase four versatile products: the Port-a-Patch, the world’s smallest patch clamp rig, the Orbit product family, for parallel lipid bilayer recordings of reconstituted ion channels, and the SURFE2R product family, for label-free and direct measurements of transporter protein activity. The Port-a-Patch , on the market since 2003, is still the smallest patch clamp rig in the world, and supports high quality patch clamp recordings; attainable without months or years of training. Giga-seal recordings and the excellent voltage-clamp of the cellular membrane ensure high qual- ity data, and the versatile add-ons allow unprecedented experimental freedom, way beyond the possibilities of conventional patch clamping. The Orbit 16 supports the parallel formation of and recordings from up to 16 lipid bilayers, accommodating reconstituted ion channels or nano- pores. Using Micro Electrode Cavity Array (MECA, Ionera) recording sub- strates, containing a 4 x 4 array of circular micro-cavities, the bilayers are automatically formed by remotely actuated painting (Ionera- SPREAD), which will be demonstrated during this session. Relying on the same principle, however with the possibility of active cooling and heating, the recently introduced Orbit mini, a minimal footprint, turn-key system, allows 4 parallel lipid bilayer recordings, also using MECA-chips. Join this workshop for hands-on experiments and information about three outstanding platforms: Port-a-Patch, Orbit 16, and Orbit mini. Speakers Andrea Brüggemann, Nanion Technologies GmbH Niels Fertig, Nanion Technologies GmbH

2:30 pm–4:00 pm Renishaw Inc Innovative Raman Imaging in the Life Sciences

When light illuminates a sample, most of it scatters without changing. A tiny fraction of the light however is Raman scattered. The Raman scattered light excites the phonons in the samples and produces a spec- trum. This spectrum tells us how the atoms are vibrating, providing a chemical fingerprint which allows identification of the sample. Raman spectroscopy produces chemical and structural information to help us understand more about the material being analyzed. The ability to probe the chemical and molecular structure of biological materials is obtained directly without the need for any dyes or markers. These systems can be utilized to generate chemical images of cells, tissue, bone and bio- compatible materials with very high spatial resolution. It has been employed for cancer diagnosis, stem cell differentiation, skin treatments, protein structure analysis, bio-diagnostics and bacterial identification. Renishaw’s inVia confocal Raman microscope can be integrated with other instruments, such as atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), to provide Raman analysis from the same point on the sample. This talk will provide an introduction to Raman microscopy with biological materials, the instrumentation required for these techniques and will highlight some applications where Raman microscopy is making the biggest impact with biological materials. Speakers Tim Prusnick, USA Sales Manager SPD, Renishaw Inc Andrew King, Regional Sales Manager - West Coast, Renishaw Inc Mark Canales, Field Applications Specialist (Life Science) Spectroscopy Products Division, Renishaw Inc Pushing the Performance Envelope: Evaluation of the NMDA receptor using Automated Electrophysiology and Fast Fluidics Ligand gated ion channels (LGICs) mediate fast synaptic transmission in the nervous system and are highly attractive drug targets due to the pivotal role they play in many physiological functions. The N-Methly-D- Aspartate (NMDA) receptor is a LGIC that is activated by glutamate, the primary excitatory neurotransmitter in the nervous system.  Functional impairment or over-excitation of the NMDA receptor occurs in a variety of disease states, however efficient screening for compounds that target the NMDA receptor remains elusive. Over the last decade, automated electrophysiology has become an indispensable tool for analyzing ion channel activities.  Here data will be presented evaluating the fluidic performance of automated patch clamp and its impact on measurement of NMDA receptor activity. We examine channel biophysics both in the presence and absence of extracellular Mg 2+ , calculate the EC50 of glutamate and the IC50s of antagonists D-AP5 and Ifenprodil, and explore use-dependent blockage by MK801. We also examine differences between competitive and non-competitive inhibition models.  Our studies demonstrate the robust fluidics performance of our automated electrophysiology system and its successful application to high-throughput screens and compound profiling assays targeting LGICs. Speaker Jeff Webber, Product Manager, Molecular Devices LLC 4:30 pm–6:00 pm Molecular Devices LLC

Gerhard Baaken, Ionera Ekaterina Zaitseva, Ionera

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