Discussion
Patch clamp technique is used in biological membrane studies. What is it mainly used to detect ? Select the correct option.
Answer: A
The patch clamp is used to estimate ion flow through ion channels.
Developed by Neher and Sakmann (Nobel Prize 1991), the method seals a fine glass pipette onto a small patch of membrane with a gigaohm seal. The voltage across the patch is held constant and the tiny currents that flow are recorded, so the opening and closing of a single ion channel can be seen as step changes of a few picoamperes.
It measures electrical current, so it does not quantify membrane proteins (that needs biochemical assays), estimate lipids in the outer leaflet (labelling or enzymatic methods), or demonstrate lateral diffusion of lipids, which is shown by fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) or cell-fusion experiments.
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