Expression of an artificial action potential and its application to screening devices for drug side effects

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15H03822
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Analytical chemistry
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: Hirano-Iwata Ayumi 東北大学, 材料科学高等研究所, 教授 (80339241)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 山本 英明 東北大学, 学際科学フロンティア研究所, 助教 (10552036) ; 馬 騰 東北大学, 材料科学高等研究所, 助教 (10734543) ; 但木 大介 東北大学, 電気通信研究所, 助教 (30794226)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): NIWANO MICHIO 東北福祉大学, 感性福祉研究所, 教授 (20134075)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: マイクロ・ナノデバイス / ナノバイオ / イオンチャネル / シリコンチップ / 活動電位

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In recent years, the risk evaluation of potential drug side effects to the heart is indispensable in drug discovery, and it is highly desirable to construct an artificial system for this evaluation. In this study, we tried to develop a screening platform for potential drug side effects based on artificially formed bilayer lipid membranes (BLMs) that can express action potentials. However, we faced an issue of a low efficiency in incorporation of ion-channels that are necessary for generation of action potentials. To address this issue, we investigated the process of ion channel incorporation and found that application of appropriate centrifugal forces during the incorporation process lead to a dramatic enhancement of the incorporation probability from ca. 6% to ca. 70%. We also investigated development of high-throughput assay systems for the ion channels and succeeded in simultaneous recordings of hERG channel activities in BLM systems.

Free Research Field

バイオ分析