Biophysical Society 67th Annual Meeting Program Guide

provide new information on the role of these C-terminal domains in the topoisomerase activity. Speakers Eric Drier, Senior Scientist, Mad City Labs Inc Beat Fierz, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland Maria Mills, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Missouri Francesco Reina, Leibniz-Institut für Photonische Technologien e.V. and Institute of Applied Optics and Biophysics, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM Fluxion Biosciences From Immunology to Ion Channels: Microfluidic Approaches to Automated Patch Clamp and Cellular Analysis. A Look at IonFlux Mercury and BioFlux Systems from Fluxion Biosciences. Leveraging proprietary microfluidic approaches, Fluxion Biosciences provides unique solutions that simplify and automate complex cell based assays. This presentation will cover two Fluxion systems used extensively in biophysical characterization of cells: IonFlux and BioFlux. IonFlux Mercury automated patch clamp (APC) systems are capable of recording from 16 to 256 separate cells simultaneously in whole cell patch clamp mode. With unique features such as industry-leading fast in-plate compound exchange and continuous solution flow, IonFlux sys tems are used globally in pharma and academic laboratories for both ligand and voltage-gated ion channel screening. Recent developments include automated IC/EC50 calculation workflows, and the introduction of a new range of GABA cells for complete sample-to-result analysis. The BioFlux system is the world’s leading platform for analyzing cell cell interactions in a flow-controlled environment. Applications include characterization of cell migration, adhesion strength, transmigration, and chemotaxis. BioFlux assays for research and drug development in immunology, vascular biology, and cancer will be reviewed. Recent research in covid-induced thrombocytopenia and functional analysis of CAR-T cells will be highlighted. Speakers Jeff Jensen, Chief Executive Officer, Fluxion Biosciences Ali Yehia, Chief Scientific Officer, Fluxion Biosciences 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM LUMICKS From Dynamic Single-Molecule Data to Direct Quantitative Insights into Biological Mechanisms The value of dynamic single-molecule research in providing direct insight into the molecular mechanisms of biology has been proven for many years. However, this realm of science has long been accessible only to experts that could build and operate complex instruments, had the knowledge to produce specific samples, and could develop sophis ticated methods for analyzing the data. The LUMICKS C-Trap enabled studying dynamic molecular mechanisms with a ready-to-go instrument. It uniquely correlates single-molecule force and fluorescence measurements to capture all molecular interac tions in real time. With the release of biochemistry products, scripting library, and sharing platform an ecosystem was initiated with the aim to provide researchers with all the tools to do their research. We are

now taking the next big step in this by launching Lakeview data analy sis: a software platform that enables any scientist to instantaneously analyze their science – from raw data to quantitative insights into mechanisms with a couple of clicks. In this talk we will present Lakeview and show how it can be used to organize, manage, and visualize all your dynamic single-molecule data on any laptop and PC. We will show how it enables automatic tracking of the location and dynamics of individual proteins on DNA and how that can be used to instantaneously visualize resulting data. From here you gain direct quantitative insights into biological mecha nisms. And there is more to come! Speaker Trey Simpson, Application Scientist Manager, LUMICKS Room 9: Monday, February 20 9:30 AM – 11:00 AM Nanion Technologies Need for Speed: No Limits for Automated Electrophysiology For over 20 years, Nanion Technologies has been providing diverse solutions for electrophysiologists worldwide. We aim to successfully implement innovative technologies in the fields of ion channel auto mated patch clamp (APC) electrophysiology, monitoring of cell viabil ity and contraction, as well as electrogenic transporters, with various throughput capabilities. This year, our symposium will start with an introduction by Dr. Andrea Brüggemann (CSO, Nanion) who will guide you through the overall capabilities of Nanion´s portfolio. Following this, we will welcome our speakers, whose work focuses on ion chan nel and transporter physiology and pathophysiology. Dr. Jean-Francois Rolland will provide an overview of when and how automated patch clamp instruments are used for supporting ion channel drug discovery programs (cell line generation, primary screening, hit-to-lead/SAR, compound profiling and / or “mode of actions” studies) in Axxam. Dr. Rolland’s presentation will also include a comparison of data generated using surrogate techniques and with the manual patch clamp. In particular, he will describe experiments where the intracellular solution perfusion, an extremely difficult technique to perform using conventional patch clamp, was used with ease using the Port-a-Patch and SyncroPatch 384. Additionally, Dr. Rolland will show experiments where ligand-gated ion channels were studied using the ‘Ligand Puff’ feature of the SyncroPatch 384 (fast external solution addition and low exposure times) and finally, give a glimpse of how automated patch-clamp can be associated with optogenetics. Dr. James Costantin will focus on activation and pharmacology nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) are cation-permeable ion channels, which mediate fast syn aptic transmission when activated by the endogenous neurotransmit ter acetylcholine (ACh) or the exogenous natural alkaloid, nicotine. nAChα7R are widely distributed in the mammalian brain including in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, basal ganglia and cerebellum and have been proposed to play a role in many neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s, schizophrenia and depres sion. The most abundantly expressed nAChR in the mammalian brain are the α7 homomeric and α4β2 heteromeric receptors. Nicotinic α7 are particularly challenging to record using patch clamp because of their extremely fast desensitization. Dr. Costantin will show activation and pharmacology of α4β2 and α7/ric3 receptors using

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