An economic method to build a puffing instrument for drug application in vitro.
BACKGROUND
In in vitro electrophysiological studies, a quick application of picoliters of drug within milliseconds is required to avoid the desensitization of membrane receptors. However, conventional gravity-fed drug delivery devices sometime fail to achieve this. Moreover, the high financial cost of the advanced drug delivery system often limits the application of commercial instruments in academic research.


METHODS
Taking advantage of the availability of data acquisition system and software in almost every electrophysiology laboratory, a simple puffing device was designed and assembled using low-cost commercially off-the-shelf components to inject picoliter amounts of drugs.


RESULTS
An optimal drug delivery with precise timing and volume was achieved using the custom made puffing device. The glutamate-evoked currents of cortical neurons recorded with patch-clamp technique were maintained for a prolonged period of time. Similarly, puffed inhibitory transmitters including GABA and glycine also produced satisfactory currents.


CONCLUSIONS
Our custom-made puffing system holds the advantage over conventional gravity-fed systems in operating within milliseconds of time. The channel number of the new device can easily be increased by simply adding more identical modules in parallel, and thus offering more flexibility than commercial puffing devices.


CONCLUSIONS
This custom-made puffing device can be characterized as reliable, modular and inexpensive system for modern drug delivery research and application.
Key Laboratory of Regenerative Biology, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510530, Guangdong, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Guangzhou 510530, Guangdong, China.
Yiping
Y
Guo
Key Laboratory of Regenerative Biology, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510530, Guangdong, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Guangzhou 510530, Guangdong, China.
Chunhua
C
Liu
Key Laboratory of Regenerative Biology, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510530, Guangdong, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Guangzhou 510530, Guangdong, China.
Lingli
L
Hu
Rehabilitation Institute, Guangdong Provincial Work Injury Rehabilitation Center, Guangzhou 510440, Guangdong, China.
Xiaoyun
X
Wang
Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States.
Monzurul
M
Alam
Key Laboratory of Regenerative Biology, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510530, Guangdong, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Guangzhou 510530, Guangdong, China. Electronic address: wang_haitao@gibh.ac.cn.
Haitao
H
Wang
D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000191:economics / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D004867:Equipment Design; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005998:Glycine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D008845:Microinjections / Q000191:economics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D009025:Morpholines; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques / Q000191:economics / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D011312:Pressure; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012984:Software; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage
D009025:Morpholines; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; C003602:tiemonium iodide; D005998:Glycine
Drug application; In vitro; Patch clamp; Pressure puffing