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Dr. Kaneez Fatima Shad knows that the “Patch Clamp” method needs skills and patience. It takes the whole day to craft only one sample and even a small leak could alter the results drastically.
Regardless of the time and sensitive nature of the method - Dr. Shad is very hopeful about the future of Patch Clamp procedure in Pakistan
The “Patch Clamp” technique has been introduced for the first time in Pakistan by Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine & Drug Research (PCMD) at Karachi University.
The Patch clamp procedure was developed by Erwin Neher and Bart Sakmann, who both shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology and medicine in 1991 and is currently used by pharmaceutical giants across the world.
“I am fortunate and proud to learned this technique directly from it creators, It is a quantitative way to estimate channel activity with an amazing accuracy,” Dr. Shad said.
Dr. Kaneez Fatima Shad learned the technology from one of its pioneers, Dr. Erwin Neher at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Germany. Her doctoral thesis entitled, Electrophysiological Patch Clamp in Neuroscience, was based in the technique.
Patch clamp technique is used to observe drugs affect on different cells in the human body. This method uses signals from cells to predict if a cell is “healthy” or “unhealthy.” When tailor-made drugs are applied on unhealthy cells, the signals can alter which can indicate if a trial drug is a promising treatment.
Electric signaling in cellular, tissue and organ level plays a pivotal role in human body for example, an electrocardiogram (ECG) and electroencephalogram (EEG) are important to understand the workings of the heart and brain.
Muscle contractions and nerve impulses are driven by positively and negatively charged ions that flow in and out of cells. The opening of a cell membrane is called a channel from where ions flow, producing currents called signals.
Normal cells and organs produced standard (healthy) signals and abnormal cells produce (unhealthy) signals. Cell signaling is the only language which depicts the communication and function between cells and organs. Minute currents from cell[s] are the only way to distinguish a healthy cell from an ailing one. It is possible for scientists to record whole cell signals from this technology.
Dr. Shad brought this technique to PCMD where one of her students has already excelled in the technique.
The laboratory at PCMD of the Patch Clamp setup consists of dual amplifier and inverted microscope. It eight different channels shows the effects of eight different drugs or variables of a drug at a time. This provides the clue to how a drug is binding with each channel
The process is simple. A glass tube with opening of a few micrometers is a key tool. The hollow tip of the tube makes contact with a small area of the cell membrane called patch. A tiny amount of suction, named the clamp, creates a seal between the tip and membrane so the ions from a channel flow directly into the tube where a highly sensitive electrode notes the current.
“Currently, only one student is working on the technology. I want more people to learn this skill. If we could train sufficient manpower, we will be able to provide the facility for entire Pakistan.” She added.
Faisal Khan, a PhD scholar, is currently working on a promising compound isolated at Hussain Ebrahim Jamal (HEJ) research institute of chemistry at Karachi University.
“I am currently judging an anti-epileptic compound believe to have more potency than other drugs available in market.” he said.
The cells are bathed in the drug or compound's solution. If it normalizes the irregular signals in the ailing cell lines - it is a 'eureka' moment - which means that the solution has some properties that heal.
“The drugs applied to cells from human or animals or on cell lines are imported from abroad. First, we culture cells and [then] directly apply the drugs on them. An electrode picks the signal in response of any drug. In other words it translates the respond of ion channels into signals.” Khan added.
Faisal Khan is also working on neuronal stem cells ion channels and recently had his abstract accepted for the 40th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) in Washington DC. His abstract, effect of chronic seizure's induced proliferation in dentate gyrus on memory impairment in adult rats, shows that an epileptic patient faces more memory problems than a normal person,
The meeting provides the largest network of neuroscientists and researchers across the world. The gathering will be held in November this year and he is the only Pakistani scholar to participate in the forum.
