Electrophysiological characterization of differentiating human neural progenitor cells

The functional maturation and integration of primary cultivated and genetically modified NPCs is investigated in short-term monolayer cultures in vitro by means of conventional patch clamp recordings. The characterization of voltage-activated channels, e.g. K⁺- and N⁺-channels, as well as of ligand-gated channels, e.g. GABA- andglutamate-receptors, in both, proliferating and differentiated progenitorcells, is examined by whole cell recordings under voltage clamp andcurrent clamp conditions. Expression of functional channels modified by different culture conditions and varying culture durations will be determined. In this context the influence of small molecules on the electrophysiological properties of differentiating NPCs will be investigated.Another major aspect of the research projects is the electrophysiological characterization of NPCs in organotypical tissue cultures (slices) after transplantation into the brain of normal rats and in the rat model of toxin-induced Parkinson‘s disease and transgenic Huntington‘s disease by different modifications of patch-clamp and conventional microelectrode techniques.