Hi there, looking for some help regarding the I-V curve in cell-attached patch clamp (voltage clamp) as I am kinda confused.
Does the current (I) in the I-V curve, represent the highest peak current/amplitude or is it the mean amplitude?
Thank you in advance for your kind answers.
It depends. Look at what the legend, methods or results section says. Though it is probably the peak current. If it was a Voltage gated sodium current, it would be more usual to plot the peak. It would be very unusual to plot the mean current over a step, but sometimes people plot the current are various times.
Hi William, Thank you for your answer. I am trying to measure the potassium current from BKca channels using sodium free solutions.
Hey Sayeman, The IV should give you a relationship of how much current passes at a given Voltage. If you are recording in a solution that contains only potassium you can check for example if you have a reversal potential for potassium at a given point (that depends on your expression system and channel). You can run ramps or voltage steps to determine the IV. If you run steps that will also tell you something about the kinetics of your channel. I am sure there is a lot of protocols for IVs in BK channels. Good luck
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