Equipment

This equipment consists of an anti-vibration table, a NIKon inverted microscope, two patch-clamp systems with digidata and a built-in PC with two sets of Klein-Diek and Sutter micromanipulators, electrical stimulators and digital data acquisition systems, a vibratome for CNS slice preparation, and a digital oscilloscope for calibrating electrical signals. This equipment detects minute electrical currents both in cells and in “cell patches,” allowing measurement of currents or their modification by nanoparticles.

This equipment is connected to the inverted microscope and enables very precise measurement of intracellular calcium flows (movements) associated with biological signals. It also includes a wavelength exchanger, a fluorescent light source, a filter wheel, a rapid perfusion system, and a high-sensitivity CCD camera.