A dynamic clamp protocol to artificially modify cell capacitance

Dynamics of excitable cells and networks depend on the membrane time constant, set by membrane resistance and capacitance. Whereas pharmacological and genetic manipulations of ionic conductances of excitable membranes are routine in electrophysiology, experimental control over capacitance remains a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:eLife 2022-04, Vol.11
Main Authors: Pfeiffer, Paul, Barreda Tomás, Federico José, Wu, Jiameng, Schleimer, Jan-Hendrik, Vida, Imre, Schreiber, Susanne
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biophysics
Brain
closed-loop feedback
Dentate gyrus
dynamic clamp
Electrophysiology
Granule cells
Lipids
membrane capacitance
Membrane Potentials - physiology
Membrane resistance
neuronal morphology
Neurons
Neurons - physiology
Neuroscience
Patch-Clamp Techniques
single neuron dynamics
Tools and Resources
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Summary:Dynamics of excitable cells and networks depend on the membrane time constant, set by membrane resistance and capacitance. Whereas pharmacological and genetic manipulations of ionic conductances of excitable membranes are routine in electrophysiology, experimental control over capacitance remains a challenge. Here, we present capacitance clamp, an approach that allows electrophysiologists to mimic a modified capacitance in biological neurons via an unconventional application of the dynamic clamp technique. We first demonstrate the feasibility to quantitatively modulate capacitance in a mathematical neuron model and then confirm the functionality of capacitance clamp in in vitro experiments in granule cells of rodent dentate gyrus with up to threefold virtual capacitance changes. Clamping of capacitance thus constitutes a novel technique to probe and decipher mechanisms of neuronal signaling in ways that were so far inaccessible to experimental electrophysiology.
ISSN:2050-084X
2050-084X
DOI:10.7554/eLife.75517