15 年来，Festo 减压阀一直是丹麦 Sophion Bioscience 公司自动化膜片钳解决方案不可或缺的组成部分。 得益于新型比例阀阀岛 VTEP 的高精度，人体细胞离子通道检测效果迈上新台阶。 检测亦达到较高的标准化程度，从而能够更快速地开发药物并研究可能产生的副作用。
在各类疾病中，约有三分之一是由细胞离子通道功能障碍引起的。 离子通道由种类繁多的膜蛋白构成，后者被称为电信号转换器，可以调节所有活细胞的电活动。 在心脏和大脑等器官中，离子通道在可兴奋细胞产生动作电位的过程中发挥着核心作用。
目前，Sophion 公司正在借助膜片钳系统加速开发能够缓解或治愈囊性纤维化、癫痫、心律失常等通道病的药物。
作为极其耗时耗力的传统手动膜片钳方法的替代方案，自动化解决方案优势明显。 膜片钳直接测量离子通过离子通道穿过细胞膜时的运动。 测量时，通过移液管或表面的小孔将细胞膜封接。 通过施加轻微真空，使细胞内的内容物与溶液直接接触，这样电极就能测量通过离子通道流过细胞膜的极小电流。 自动化技术不但能大幅提高检测速度，而且其高精度也意味着检测结果更加稳定。
新系统能同时测量 8、16、48 或 384 个细胞，为研究人员提供更多重测量可能和更多数据，用于研究、表征甚至筛选。
Sophion and Festo have been working together successfully for many years. That is why Festo was the logical choice to be the project partner for its current semi-automatic 8-channel system. The proportional valve terminal VTEP with its extremely fast communication protocols and high precision in the ± 2 mbar range exactly met the requirements of the developers for the new system. Maximum precision is the key to making sure the experiments work.
If too little pressure is applied, the cell membrane will not break. If the pressure is too high, the cell collapses. That is why proportional valve terminals with piezo technology such as VTEP are ideal for sensitive work on human cells.
Another advantage of theproportional valve terminal is its compact design, thanks to the piezo valves. The small and compact pressure regulators are perfect for integration into Sophion instruments. Depending on the configuration, automated patch clamp systems use 12 to 54 independent pressure channels that are controlled by up to six valve terminals.
The systems are impressive:
According to Sophion, 75% of the world's 20 largest pharmaceutical companies and many universities use solutions from Sophion for drug development.
Sophion Bioscience is a leading global life science company with its head office in Denmark and subsidiaries in the USA, Japan and China. The company specialises in the development and manufacture of automated patch clamp systems and cell line solutions. Sophion was founded in 2000 by a group of dedicated electrophysiologists. Their aim was to make patch clamping objective and independent of the knowledge of the user. Sophion Bioscience provides its partners with technical, biological and application-related support in the research of ion channels and the development of new drugs.