NJIT Physics Department Seminar

February 27th, Monday

High Throughput Electrophysiology of Ion Channels and Novel Non Invasive Assays for Stem Cells in Drug Discovery

Dr. Corina T. Bot

Senior Scientist/Lab Operations Manager
Nanion Technologies Inc., Livingston, New Jersey

(Biophysics, Host: Prodan)

Time: 11:45am-12:45pm with 11:30am tea time

Room: ECE 202

Patch Clamp assays, the gold standard of ion channel research, are distinguished by high complexity. Conventional patch clamp is technically demanding and is unsuitable for high-throughput screening (HTS) experiments. Nanion Technologies is one of the leading providers of automated patch clamp systems, offering a diverse product portfolio for experiments ranging from single channel recordings to HTS-compatible ion channel drug discovery. In recent years, human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) have gained increased popularity as they recapitulate key features of human cardiac ion channel electrophysiology in vitro. The capacity of a drug candidate to interact with ion channels involved in the depolarization or repolarization phases of the cardiac action potential is important for drug safety assessment. Moreover, novel insights into electrophysiology and contractility in conjunction with optogenetic stimulation in hiPSC-CMs will be discussed. In the light of the new Comprehensive in Vitro Proarrhythmia Assay (CiPA), a FDA directed initiative to improve guidelines and standardize assays and protocols, the use of hiPSC-CMs may become critical in determining the proarrhythmic risk of potential drug candidates. In agreement with the CiPA initiative, the feasibility of using Nanion’s automated patch clamping platforms for automated evaluation of the electrophysiology and pharmacology of hiPSC-CMs will enable considerable increase in throughput for reliable and efficient drug evaluation.