title: Artifactual voltage response recorded from hair cells with patch-clamp amplifiers.
abstract: Patch-clamp amplifiers (PCAs) are commonly used to characterize voltage- and current-clamp responses in the same cell. However, the cell membrane voltage response can be severely distorted by PCAs working in the current-clamp mode. Here we compare the voltage response of pigeon semicircular canal hair cells in situ, recorded with two different PCAs, and with a classic microelectrode bridge amplifier (BA). We found that the voltage response of hair cells recorded with PCAs differed significantly from that recorded with the BA. The true hair cell membrane voltage response to positive current steps was characterized by a strongly damped oscillation, whose frequency and duration depended on hair cell location in the sensory crista ampullaris.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiological and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Masetto
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Valli
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Correia
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016477:Artifacts; D010856:Columbidae; D018069:Hair Cells, Vestibular / Q000502:physiology*; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D008839:Microelectrodes; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000592:standards*; D012665:Semicircular Canals / Q000166:cytology