title: Whole-cell voltage clamp on skeletal muscle fibers with the silicone-clamp technique.
abstract: Control of membrane voltage and membrane current measurements are of strong interest for the study of numerous aspects of skeletal muscle physiology and pathophysiology. The silicone-clamp technique makes use of a conventional patch-clamp apparatus to achieve whole-cell voltage clamp of a restricted portion of a fully differentiated adult skeletal muscle fiber. The major part of an isolated muscle fiber is insulated from the extracellular medium with silicone grease, and the tip of a single microelectrode connected to the amplifier is then inserted within the fiber through the silicone layer. This method represents an alternative to the traditional vaseline-gap isolation and two or three microelectrode voltage-clamp techniques. This chapter reviews the main benefits of the silicone-clamp technique and provides detailed insights into its practical implementation.
authors.affiliation: Physiologie Intégrative Cellulaire et Moléculaire, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, France.
authors.forename: Sandrine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pouvreau
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Collet
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Allard
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Jacquemond
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D055724:Electrophysiological Phenomena; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D018485:Muscle Fibers, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D012828:Silicones
chemical_list: D012828:Silicones