I would like to check the potency of my compound on voltage activated calcium channels, Can anyone suggest me a method other than Electrophysiology technique.
Thanks in Advance
You may be able to use a fluorescent calcium indicator to estimate the change in intracellular calcium concentration. However, some care will be required to get quantitative estimates from the fluorescence data. If you are interested in pursuing this method, the following paper is a good place to start:
Neher, E. (1995). The use of fura-2 for estimating Ca buffers and Ca fluxes. Neuropharmacology, 34(11), 1423–42. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8606791
If you want to check the effect of toxins on VOLTAGE-GATED Ca channels, then obviously you have first to activate those channels by depolarization. If you don't want to use electrophysiology (patch clamp, Ca imaging) you can activate channels by briefly applying high KCl (30-50mM). But first you need to load cells with some Ca indicator, e.g. Oregon Green BAPTA-AM and compare the changes in fluorescence before and after your toxin application.
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