Epithelial Electrophysiology
Recent advancements utilizing induced pluripotent stem cell-derived (iPSC) epithelia have made disease modeling and cell therapy for many, previously untreatable diseases possible. However, current electrophysiology techniques – used to validate epithelial function – are painstaking and require a highly trained user; limiting experimental throughput. We are developing new techniques and devices that enable both high-throughput and high-quality electrophysiological measurements. Our lab has built a robot that automates intracellular electrophysiology of epithelia that automates the pipette insertion process and, simultaneously improves throughput. We are also exploring new electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS)-based techniques to extract high resolution, membrane-specific properties non invasively. These techniques could be used as the basis for at-line functional characterization of epithelia in all future iPSC-based therapies.