Drug development cycle shortened with new silicon-based screening tool

The ion channels in human cells play a central role in controlling a variety of physiological processes in our body – which is why ion channels are important molecular targets in preclinical drug discovery. The measurement of the electrophysiological activity of the ion channels across the cells is a crucial step in screening potential drug candidates. Patch clamping is the standard technique for ion channel assay and it is traditionally a laborious and skill-intensive process that limits the throughput of electrophysiology measurement, which is a bottleneck for drug discovery process.

Dr. Tushar Bansal, IME scientist leading this effort, said, “The realisation of our device using silicon as the primary material offers cost advantage over existing glass-based planar chip design, given silicon’s amenability for mass fabrication by standard processes. We are currently working with our industry counterparts to take this project to the next level.”

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(From left to right) a planar aperture, or a lateral aperture is utilized to patch a cell suspended in extracellular solution. Credit: Institute of Microelectronics

IME’s silicon-based device consists of a silicon substrate with 1536 inlets. The substrate holds the cell into position, followed by the application of suction through the side channels to form a tight seal for electrical measurement.

On IME’s new silicon-based drug screening tool, Dr. Weiping Han, Head, Laboratory of Metabolic Medicine at Singapore Bioimaging Consortium, said, “The successful development of the multi-channel patch clamp will likely result in a technical platform with high potential for commercialisation. It may be used by pharmaceutical and biotech companies for drug screening, and by academic researchers for mechanistic studies.”

Professor Dim-Lee Kwong, Executive Director of IME said, “The pre-clinical drug screening process is an arduous one, which IME hopes to address through this project. Our multidisciplinary efforts to tackle the throughput and cost issues will translate to faster access to new and more affordable drugs when they hit the market.”

Provided by Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)