Ace Therapeutics offers different strategies for monitoring voltages and currents through specific ion channels to help researchers in the field of psychiatric disorders quickly achieve their scientific goals. In addition, we provide a full range of psychiatric-related research services and end-to-end integrated solutions for our global partners, covering all angles of psychiatric research.

Introduction of Two-Electrode Voltage Clamp (TEVC) in Psychiatry

Electrophysiologists use voltage clamp to measure ionic currents across the membrane of excitable cells (e.g., neurons) while maintaining the membrane voltage at a set level. The cell membrane of excitable cells contains many different kinds of ion channels, some of which are voltage-gated. The voltage clamp allows the membrane voltage to be manipulated independently of ion currents, thus studying the current-voltage relationship of membrane channels.

Fig. 1 The two-electrode voltage-clamp technique. (Aria, Mohammad M., 2020)

How TEVC Works?

Oocytes are injected with mRNA to express the ion channel of interest. The cells are pierced by voltage and current electrodes to control and measure the current through the channels expressed on the cell membrane. In this circuit, a pulsed step voltage is applied at a constant voltage level and the membrane current or conductance is measured by an operational amplifier Thus, when a voltage-gated ion channel is opened, the conductance of the membrane and the trans-conductance gain of the amplifier change, so the amplitude of the output signal is correlated with the conductance of the membrane.

Fig. 2 Principle of whole-cell patch-clamp and its applications in neural interface studies. (Stephen DM, et al., 2019)

TEVC Services

Ace Therapeutics can derive a quantitative description of the ionic basis of action potentials by using the TEVC method that allows us to determine the precise relationship between membrane currents, membrane conductance and membrane voltage. In addition, we can measure ion channel currents in a range of cells, including neurons, and specific cellular regions, including presynaptic terminals and dendritic spines.

What Can We Help You Achieve in Psychiatry with TEVC?

• Studying nanoscale reorganization of the active zone during presynaptic homeostatic enhancement
• Assessing the GABAergic activity of compounds (many psychotherapeutic drugs, including clozapine, have multiple pharmacological effects and act on GABA A receptors)
• Evaluating the underlying biological processes and elucidating the role of neurotransmitter receptors in various neuropsychiatric disorders
• Characterizing the functional activity of different nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subtypes

Our Advantages

• No need to generate stable cell lines
• Ideal for confirming hits from high-throughput screens
• Inexpensive and provides meaningful data in a short turnaround time
• Single concentration analysis and complete concentration-response curves

Ace Therapeutics supports biomarker and therapy development for psychiatric disorders through TEVC. We are dedicated to helping researchers develop potent GABAA receptor variable agonists to reduce inflammation, pain, and associated anxiety/depression. If you are interested in TEVC services, please feel free to make an inquiry.

References

1. Aria, Mohammad M. Principle of whole-cell patch-clamp and its applications in neural interface studies. Electrophysiology Measurements for Studying Neural Interfaces. 2020, 1:25-63.
2. Stephen DM, et al. Chapter 4 - Ion Channels and Action Potential Generation. Synaptic Transmission. 2019,35-63.