Automated Electrophysiology Systems

Ion channels have been implicated in many diseases, including hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, gastrointestinal disorders, cystic fibrosis, pathological pain, cancer, and immune disorders. In fact, many drugs on the market today act on ion channels, including calcium channel blockers for hypertension and angina, and sodium channel blockers for pain.

However, the promise of ion channels as a drug target class has not been fully realized due to a historical lack of affordable, high-throughput analysis methods. This started to change in 2002 when Molecular Devices introduced the world's first commercially available parallel electrophysiological screening instrument-the IonWorks HT System. Since then, the company has continued its course of innovation, delivering higher and higher throughput capabilities for ion channel studies.

Today, Molecular Devices provides a versatile range of automated electrophysiology systems under its IonWorks® and PatchXpress® brands. Each system meets a different combination of the needs of drug discovery researchers interested in ligand- and voltage-gated ion channel screening assays as well as the needs of basic researchers interested in higher-throughput approaches to study ion channel function in normal and disease processes.

In general, IonWorks Systems are ideal for high-throughput primary screens of mid-to-large compound libraries as well as compound profiling and early safety screens, while the PatchXpress System is ideal for lead optimization and hERG safety testing.

Select one of the systems below to learn more.

To support ion channel assays, Molecular Devices offers the extensive ChanTest Corporation catalog of replicating and frozen human ion channel expressing cell lines. Cells are validated for structure, function, and pharmacology. Performance is characterized using conventional patch-clamp with the PatchXpress 7000A, IonWorks, or both.