Patch-Clamp: Studying the Passive and Active Properties of Excitable Membranes

The passive and the active electrical membrane properties are determinant keys in the signaling and information transfer between the excitable cells. They determine the input-output responses as well as the firing activity of neurons. This chapter will cover the description of the passive membrane parameters and their contribution in influencing the physiology of ion transport across the cell membrane. It will focus on protocol procedures to study and analyze both the passive and the active components using conventional whole-cell recordings. In particular, the voltage dependency and the kinetic parameters of the activation and inactivation curves of channels will be discussed in details.