The compartmentation of ion channels in the adult ventricular cardiomyocyte is a key feature that allows electrical propogation and coupling via specialsed ion channels and receptors. However, the correlation between the channel protein location and the channel functions has remained mostly a mystery – until now.

In a study published in the Journal of Circulation Research, Anamika Bargava and colleagues from the National Heart and Lung Institute of Imperial College (London), report the validation of a method that allows the imaging of the topography of a cardiomyocyte whilst it is still living, and then to study the way in which these ion channels are clustered from a specific microdomain.

The new method combines scanning ion conductance microscopy with conventional cell-attached patch-clamp methods, along with specialised software to gradually increase the pipette tip diameter.

The paper is entitled Super-Resolution Scanning Patch-Clamp Reveals Clustering of Functional Ion Channels in the Adult Ventricular Myocyte and is published as doi: 10.1161/​CIRCRESAHA.111.300445