TY - JOUR
T1 - Electrically excitable normal rat kidney fibroblasts
T2 - A new model system for cell-semiconductor hybrids
AU - Parak, W. J.
AU - Domke, J.
AU - George, M.
AU - Kardinal, A.
AU - Radmacher, M.
AU - Gaub, Herman E.
AU - De Roos, A. D.G.
AU - Theuvenet, A. P.R.
AU - Wiegand, G.
AU - Sackmann, E.
AU - Behrends, J. C.
PY - 1999
Y1 - 1999
N2 - In testing various designs of cell-semiconductor hybrids, the choice of a suitable type of electrically excitable cell is crucial. Here normal rat kidney (NRK) fibroblasts are presented as a cell line, easily maintained in culture, that may substitute for heart or nerve cells in many experiments. Like heart muscle cells, NRK fibroblasts form electrically coupled confluent cell layers, in which propagating action potentials are spontaneously generated. These, however, are not associated with mechanical disturbances. Here we compare heart muscle cells and NRK fibroblasts with respect to action potential waveform, morphology, and substrate adhesion profile, using the whole-cell variant of the patch-clamp technique, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and reflection interference contrast microscopy (RICM), respectively. Our results clearly demonstrate that NRK fibroblasts should provide a highly suitable test system for investigating the signal transfer between electrically excitable cells and extracellular detectors, available at a minimum cost and effort for the experimenters.
AB - In testing various designs of cell-semiconductor hybrids, the choice of a suitable type of electrically excitable cell is crucial. Here normal rat kidney (NRK) fibroblasts are presented as a cell line, easily maintained in culture, that may substitute for heart or nerve cells in many experiments. Like heart muscle cells, NRK fibroblasts form electrically coupled confluent cell layers, in which propagating action potentials are spontaneously generated. These, however, are not associated with mechanical disturbances. Here we compare heart muscle cells and NRK fibroblasts with respect to action potential waveform, morphology, and substrate adhesion profile, using the whole-cell variant of the patch-clamp technique, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and reflection interference contrast microscopy (RICM), respectively. Our results clearly demonstrate that NRK fibroblasts should provide a highly suitable test system for investigating the signal transfer between electrically excitable cells and extracellular detectors, available at a minimum cost and effort for the experimenters.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0033054309&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/S0006-3495(99)77325-X
DO - 10.1016/S0006-3495(99)77325-X
M3 - Article
C2 - 10049346
AN - SCOPUS:0033054309
SN - 0006-3495
VL - 76
SP - 1659
EP - 1667
JO - Biophysical Journal
JF - Biophysical Journal
IS - 3
ER -