In situ recording from gut pacemaker cells

Bingxian Wang, Wolfgang A. Kunze, Yaohui Zhu, Jan D. Huizinga

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

Interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) associated with the myenteric plexus of the small intestine are crucial players in gut physiology performing pacemaker functions and directing peristalsis and segmentation. ICC have been studied after chemical isolation and under culture conditions, but concerns that these methods affect the intrinsic properties have hindered progress in our understanding of ICC. To overcome this problem, we have developed a method to obtain electrophysiological recordings from ICC in situ. The critical feature is the ability to make high resistance seals onto cells that are embedded within tissue to obtain patch clamp recordings. Our first results show a prominent presence of a chloride channel, one of the proposed ICC pacemaker channels. The developed method can be applied to auxiliary cells of the enteric nervous system such as glial cells or fibroblasts and will be ideal for the study of cell-cell communication in tissue.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)243-251
Number of pages9
JournalPflugers Archiv European Journal of Physiology
Volume457
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2008
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Chloride channel
  • Gut
  • Pacemaker
  • Patch clamp
  • Single channel

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physiology
  • Clinical Biochemistry
  • Physiology (medical)

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