Patch clamp recording from anterior pituitary cells identified by reverse hemolytic plaque assay

This chapter describes a reliable experimental approach involving the identification of living pituitary cells of a particular type by a reverse hemolytic plaque assay and the study of the ionic conductances of their cell membranes by the method of patch clamp recording. Patch clamp recording is a technique that is easily applied to individual cultured cells. It does not involve impalement of the cell membrane and is, thus, free of many of the difficulties implicit in work with conventional microelectrodes. Patch clamp recording also differs from conventional microelectrode recording in that an electrical potential is applied and transmembrane current is measured. The electrical characteristics of individual identified cells can then be studied using patch clamp recording. This electrophysiological approach is well suited to the study of complex systems in cultured cells.