Axon Axopatch 200B - Chapter 3 USE OF THE PATCH CLAMP - A TUTORIAL

USE OF THE PATCH CLAMP – A TUTORIAL
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Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Use of the Patch Clamp — A Tutorial
The purpose of this chapter is to ease you into the use of your Axopatch 200B. The
controls have been carefully grouped for clarity. Many of them can be switched off and
ignored until you become more familiar with the instrument and patch clamping.
Operation of the Axopatch 200B will be described initially in the context of a real
experiment while using the PATCH-1U model cell supplied with the unit and illustrated in
the Model Cell portion of the
REFERENCE SECTION: GENERAL INFORMATION
. An
oscilloscope, a step generator, and some aluminum foil will be required.
Note that your headstage contains three feedback elements, a capacitor in the PATCH
position and resistors in the WHOLE CELL β = 0.1 and β = 1 positions. On each setting,
the headstage gain is β mV/pA and this gain is multiplied by the setting on the rotary gain
switch, α, to achieve the total output gain
The PATCH-1U model cell emulates three experimental configurations:
BATH: 10 MΩ "electrode" resistor to ground.
PATCH: 10 GΩ "patch" resistor to ground.
Approximately 5 pF stray capacitance to ground.
CELL: 10 MΩ "electrode" resistor.
500 MΩ "cell membrane" resistor in parallel with 33 pF "cell membrane" capacitor.
Approximately 5 pF stray capacitance to ground.