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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
4:30 pm–6:00 pm
Molecular Devices LLC
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
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
Gerhard Baaken, Ionera
Ekaterina Zaitseva, Ionera