I am interested in measuring the signalling activity of induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cortical interneurons in vitro. The interneuron population would be diverse and include common types such as parvalbumin, somatostatin etc. expressing cells. I would like to use live cell calcium imaging, microelectrode array, and whole cell patch clamp as the measurement outputs. The idea would be to expose aged interneurons to a treatment, incubate, then measure their response to a physiologically relevant stimulant to see what effect the treatment might have on their ability to respond.
My question is: what could be used to stimulate calcium and/or electrical signalling activity in a monoculture of interneurons in vitro, or else interneurons co-cultured with astrocytes?
I would appreciate being pointed toward relevant references if possible.
Many thanks!
The simpliest way is to give a puff of glutamate, the excitatory neurotransmitter, to the neuron you are recording from. A puff of exogenouse glutamate shall elicit an AMPA ion channel current, an increase of membrane potential, and possibly a transient Ca2+ response. An alternative would be to electrically stimulate your neurons; but that won't be pharmacological stimnulation.
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