Advanced Micropipette Techniques for Cell Physiology: (Vol 9 Methods in the Neurosciences S.)

When inserted into cells, or used extracellularly in special ways, micropipettes can provide channels for recording the electrical activity of single cells, even cells buried in a mass of tissue such as the brain. Micropipettes can also provide channels for injecting substances into individual cells for a variety of experimental purposes, and this is likewise a necessary step in genetic engineering. Micropipettes are thus critical tools in modern cell physiology, but many aspects of how they are best fabricated and used in various types of work have been little understood. For the last 12 years, the authors of this book have collaborated upon research in this field, a uniquely intensive and extensive effort in the subject that has provided a great deal of new and helpful information. This book reports fully their findings and insights, including much work of the last eight years that has not been described elsewhere. In treating each aspect of micropipette technique, an attempt is made to present and evaluate all noteworthy contributions within a historical context and to summarize the present status of our knowledge. Special attention is given to how each aspect of technique should be adapted to best meet the needs of particular types of research. Emphasis is also placed upon how these techniques may be extended to meet the stringent requirements of systematic and high quality intracellular work in small cells, an exceptionally broad and promising field for future work.

Table of Contents:
A Brief History of Micropipette Techniques and Their Applications; Early Methods of Fabricating Micropipettes; The Brown-Flaming Micropipette Puller: Its Background, Design, and Underlying Principles; Techniques for Examining and Measuring Micropipette Tips by Scanning Electron Microscopy; Evaluation of Brown-Flaming Micropipette Puller; A Theory of Micropipette Tip Formation: Quantitative Prediction and Validation of the Effects of Capillary Wall Thickness upon Tip Size; Effects of a Fused Internal Fiber (Omega Dot) upon Micropipette Tips; Minimizing Tip Size with Borosilicate Tubing; Beveling Micropipette Tips: Techniques and Applications; Filling Micropipettes: Techniques and Solutions; Advancing Micropipettes through Tissues and into Cells; Ancillary Techniques for Conducting Intracellular Research; Evaluation of Improved Intracellular Recording Techniques in Vertebrate; Photoreceptors; Evaluation of Tubing Designs for Intracellular Work; The Structure and Properties of Glasses for Fabricating Micropipettes; Dual-Channel Micropipettes; The Burgeoning Field of Patch Clamping; Extension of the Brown-Flaming Micropipette Puller to Patch Clamping and Conveniently Handling Aluminosilicate Glass.