News and Press

Munich & Freiburg, Germany, November 29, 2012; In a landmark publication in Science², research on artificially designed DNA-origami nanopores has been published this week using Nanion's new ORBIT 16 platform running Ionera's MECA¹ bilayer array chip. The team of Prof. Simmel from the Technical University Munich has created nanometer-scale transmembrane ion channels by means of self-assembled DNA-based nanostructures. These “designer pores” have been reconstituted in lipid bilayers for functional characterization using the Orbit 16 for automated formation of, and recordings from 16 bilayers in parallel on Ionera's MECA¹ array.

Recently, interest in using ion channels as molecular Coulter counters or nanopores for analytical techniques has strongly grown. The ORBIT platform, running the MECA bilayer array, is an enabling element for nanopore research and ion channel reconstitution. In the ground-breaking work of Simmel et al., published in the current issue of Science², artificial ion channels have been designed based on DNA origami nanostructures. This technique employs DNA molecules as programmable building materials for custom-designed, self-assembling, nanometer-scale structures, basically allowing for the design of the complex structures on a standard computer. The researchers present evidence that their nature-inspired nanostructures may also behave like biological ion channels. They indeed show for the first time the potential for functional use of DNA nanotechnology in applications of synthetic membrane channels as molecular sensors, antimicrobial agents, and drivers of novel nanodevices.

To test one potential application, the researchers used them as nanopores for several different molecular sensing experiments. These confirmed that it is possible, by observing changes in the electrical characteristics, to record the passage of single molecules through synthetic membrane channels made from DNA. Because this approach allows both geometric and chemical tailoring of the membrane channels, it might offer advantages over two other families of molecular sensors, based on biological and solid-state nanopores respectively.

This new type of highly exciting "designer nanopores" has been efficiently and precisely analysed with the automated bilayer recording platform from Nanion. The Orbit 16 employs recording chips containing a microelectrode cavity array (MECA) provided by Ionera, a spin-off project from the University of Freiburg and speeds up the entire analytical process by the rapid and simultaneous formation of 16 highly stable micrometer-sized bilayers for parallel analysis. To automatically and simultaneously form bilayers on all 16 cavities, the Orbit uses a proprietary method (Ionera-SPREAD) which essentially is a 100%-yield, no-waiting time automated version of the classical Müller-Rudin (painting) procedure.

Prof. Dr. Friedrich Simmel, Technical University of Munich, Germany comments:

"The parallel Nanion Orbit 16 setup was crucial for the success of our project, as it allowed us to increase throughput and more quickly screen for optimal conditions for the incorporation of our synthetic DNA channels into lipid bilayer membranes. The small cavity volume of the MECA chips used on the Orbit 16 also helped us to directly prove the translocation of molecules through the channels (from cis to trans side of the membrane), as we could easily demonstrate the accumulation of molecules in the small trans compartment."

Dr. Niels Fertig, CEO of Nanion Technologies, continues:

"We are delighted to see the Orbit 16 displaying its great potential for nanopore research in the exciting development of DNA origami channels. As anticipated, the enabling features of the Orbit such as automation, low noise at high bandwidth and parallel recordings make the technology appealing to the ion channel- and nanopore-communities. We only introduced the Orbit this year and started shipping a few months ago, so it is fantastic to already see user publications in such high ranked journals as Science so early on!"

Dr. Gerhard Baaken, project leader Ionera at the University of Freiburg, enjoins:

"Prof. Simmel's group has been among the earliest alpha-testers of the MECA chip. We were always glad to see how happy they are with its performance and are now extremely gratified by the prominent publication in Science, in which the MECA device and the Ionera-SPREAD automated bilayer formation have played a decisive enabling role in facilitating and speeding up research. Nanion's Orbit 16 is the ideal platform in which to bring the MECA to market, and we are looking forward to our full commercial release in 2013.

The Orbit 16 has been launched earlier in 2012 and the first units are being installed at customer sites. The system will be on display at the Biophysical Society Annual Meeting, in Philadelphia, PA, USA, February 2 – 6, 2013. The Orbit 16 can be used to form and record from solvent-containing lipid bilayers using Ionera's MECA¹ or solvent-free bilayers using Nanion's GUV-derived bilayer formation protocols, as already used on the Port-a-Patch.

For the full press release please click here.

¹Ionera's MECA technology is commercially available for beta-testing using a dedicated module for the Orbit 16.

²Martin Langecker, Vera Arnaut, Thomas G. Martin, Jonathan List, Stephan Renner, Michael Mayer, Hendrik Dietz, and Friedrich C. Simmel. Synthetic lipid membrane channels formed by designed DNA nanostructures. Science, vol. 338, issue 6109, pp. 932-936. DOI: 10.1126/science.1225624

Munich, June 29, 2012, In a recent publication, scientists at Hoffmann-La Roche, Basel, Switzerland, evaluated the Patchliner for safety testing of drugs affecting the hERG-channel, the cardiac ion channel most commonly associated with drug safety liability issues. In the performed study, the experiments were performed at physiological temperature (35 – 37°C), and the obtained data showed good correlation with pharmacology data recorded using conventional patch clamp.

 Dr. Liudmila Polochuk, the author of the publication titled “Toward a new gold standard for early safety: automated temperature-controlled hERG test on the Patchliner”, concludes:

“…Based on these results, the Patchliner represents an innovative automated electrophysiology platform for conducting the hERG assay that substantially increases throughput and has the advantage of operating at physiological temperature. It allows fast, accurate, and direct assessment of channel function to identify potential proarrhythmic side effects and sets a new standard in ion channel research for drug safety testing.”

 Dr. Polunchuk continues:

“The Patchliner workstation provides stable currents and high- quality giga-Ohm-seal recordings at 37˚C. Based on the validation results, this automated electrophysiology workstation can be used for conducting an advanced hERG assay for new compounds at physiological temperature and may eventually become a new gold standard for ion channel research in safety pharmacology.”

For more information on the performed study, download the full paper here.

Patchliner and temperature control

 The Patchliner is a high quality, automated patch clamp platform supporting two modes of temperature control: stable physiological temperatures or rapid application of solutions heated in the pipette. In the latter case, solutions with temperatures up to 65 °C can be added to the patch clamped cells.

For more information about the Patchliner, click here.

For more information about temperature control, click here.

Munich, Germany, February 26, 2012; Nanion acquires the well-established SURFE2R technology, allowing state-of-the-art measurements of transporter protein activity and function. The SURFE2R technology is an excellent enhancement to Nanion’s existing products which until now covered ion channels and nanopores.
Nanion Technologies is one of the leading providers of high quality automated patch clamp systems. Nanion’s efficient and versatile products drastically improve the data output in patch clamp-based ion channel screening, safety testing and scientific research. Since 2003, Nanion has launched three automated patch clamp platforms, the Port-a-Patch (2003), the Patchliner (2006), the SyncroPatch 96 (2010), and recently introduced the Orbit 16 – a device for parallel bilayer recordings. Existing products target ion channels and nanopores in cell- and cell-free membranes for highly detailed information about kinetics, function, and compound pharmacology.

Dr. Niels Fertig, CEO of Nanion Technologies, continues:
“By acquiring the SURFE2R technology developed by IonGate / Scientific Devices Heidelberg, Nanion enters yet another market segment. It is an excellent addition to our product portfolio and a unique platform since it allows direct measurements of transporter activity and function. Further on, the platform has been validated with a wide variety of membrane preparations ranging from bacteria to native cells and cell lines. With this acquisition, Nanion becomes a one-stop-shop for functional membrane protein analysis, extending its product portfolio from screening instrumentation for ion channels and nanopores to now also include transporter proteins. “

The SURFE2R product line will be launched during the second half of 2012.

Download the full press release here.

For more information click here.

Today, Nanion announces the introduction of a completely new product line for efficient analysis of bilayer-reconstituted ion channels and nanopores. The first of these, the Orbit 16, allows for automated formation of, and recordings from 16 bilayers in parallel, combining efficient data generation and ultra-high data quality. The Orbit 16 takes the pain out of bilayer recordings and facilitates efficient data generation through 16 parallel recordings.

Bilayer recording is a well-established technique for in-depth studies of biophysical properties of ion channels and is particularly suited for functional studies on proteins residing in intracellular membranes. Moreover, this technique supports a host of powerful emerging analytical techniques using biological nanopores as molecular sensors.
Despite its proven value, bilayer recording can be very frustrating due to the capricious nature of lipid bilayers which have to be formed manually one by one and which often lack stability. The Orbit 16 speeds up the entire process by the rapid and simultaneous formation of 16, highly stable micrometer-sized bilayers and allows subsequent parallel recordings, thereby enabling efficient data generation. For increased experimental flexibility, two different recording chips are available; either Ionera's microelectrode cavity array (MECA) - or Nanion's-recording chips for work on (proteo-) liposomes, the latter as known from the Port-a-Patch.

Dr. Gerhard Baaken, University of Freiburg, Germany, and founder of Ionera, says:
“Ionera is the developer and will be the provider of the Micro Electrode Cavity Array chip substrates, used with the Orbit 16. We have recently published a study showing that the MECA supports high-resolution polymer sizing with a single biological nanopore (alpha-haemolysin) - one of the most exacting tasks in bilayer recording- in a parallel format. We think that the Orbit 16 will be an ideal environment for our MECA-16 chip and will prove to be a highly enabling technology for bilayer and nanopore research due to the ease of bilayer formation and signal to noise quality of recordings. Thanks to the parallelism of the recordings, the researcher can in most cases obtain data and statistics from one single run.”

Dr. Niels Fertig, CEO of Nanion Technologies, continues:
“With the Orbit 16, Nanion enters a new market segment. The Orbit 16 has great potential since it makes bilayer recordings more efficient and accessible to a wider audience. The Orbit 16 offers excellent data quality, i.e. low noise at high bandwidth, in combination with an unmatched data throughput. We anticipate that these features make the Orbit 16 appealing to the ion channel- and nanopore-communities, or anyone who wants to enter the field of bilayer recordings. “

The Orbit 16 has its public premiere at the Biophysical Society Annual Meeting, in San Diego, CA, USA, February 26 – 29, 2012.

Download the full press release here.

Munich, Germany, November 30^th, 2011; Nanion’s ion channel screening platform, the SyncroPatch 96, has been well received within the pharmaceutical industry during the past 12 months. Experienced automated patch clamp users decide in favor of the SyncroPatch 96 because of its high throughput and cost-efficiency in combination with reliable pharmacology for heterologous voltage- and ligand-gated ion channel targets.
The SyncroPatch 96 is Nanion’s high throughput screening platform, capable of generating 9000 data points per day. Since the launch earlier this year, the SyncroPatch 96 platform has been validated with a wide variety of ion channels and cell types, including challenging ligand gated channels such as α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors.

Dr. Adam Hendricson, Lead Evaluation, Bristol-Myers Squibb, CT, USA, says:
“The flexibility of the SyncroPatch 96 to run ligand-gated assays without sacrificing throughput or fidelity relative to voltage-gated channels really sets it apart in the gigaseal auto-EP space. When considering different platforms, the SyncroPatch was the only system that met all our critical criteria: >50% giga-seal across multiple cell lines, minimal chip priming and cell-handling, rapid solution exchange for fast agonists, internal solution exchange, ability to multiplex cells in a run, compatibility with external robotic automation, and a highly competitive cost per data point. We run the SyncroPatch on a daily basis and are very happy with its performance and efficiency, and with the excellent, highly responsive applications support offered by Nanion.”

Dr. Henning Draheim, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Germany, continues:
“We carefully researched the market before looking closer at selected APC platforms that may match our internal criteria. We were very impressed by the SyncroPatch 96 system’s flexibility and data quality when testing it on-site, finding that it really performs “as advertised” and definitely fits our needs. In addition, Nanion performed a blind study on the SyncroPatch, testing 22 of our compounds, using a protocol addressing the block of sodium channels in their inactivated state. The obtained compound pharmacology was compared to our manual patch clamp data and the match was fantastic! For me, it was then a straightforward decision for the SyncroPatch 96 and of course it is great when the data speaks for itself when one needs to convince the upper management to purchase state-of-art equipment.”

Niels Fertig, CEO of Nanion Technologies, ads:
“We see a general trend that experienced APC users decide for the SyncroPatch 96. For us, this is a clear indication that the platform delivers what industrial screeners want, in terms of throughput, experimental capabilities and data reliability. Secondly, experienced users challenge the platforms harder – which we welcome, since it proves the capabilities as well as limitations of the tested platforms. As always, we listen carefully to what our customers tell us, to match their hardware and software requirements. At the moment, we’re very busy installing the SyncroPatch 96 worldwide, and we foresee very positive developments in 2012.”

Nanion offers demonstrations of the SyncroPatch 96 at the head quarters in Munich, Germany, and North Brunswick, NJ, USA, or at the customer site.

Download the full press release here

Human iPS cell-derived neurons (iCell neurons) from Cellular Dynamics International were successfully used on Nanion’s 8-channel Patchliner.
To our knowledge, this is the first time stem cell derived neurons have been used on an automated patch clamp device.

Initial experiments showed the presence of voltage-gated Na⁺, voltage-gated K⁺ and GABA receptor-mediated currents from these cells. Nanion will continue to work with Cellular Dynamics International to further characterize these cells using the Port-a-Patch, Patchliner and SyncroPatch 96.

Visit Nanion’s booth (#601) at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in Washington D.C. to learn more!  

Download the application note here

Today, Nanion announces the opening of yet another branch. To meet the needs of the rapidly expanding number of customers in China, the dedicated sales- and support team in Beijing now opens the doors to Nanion Technologies China.
Nanion successfully entered the Chinese market over five years ago, and the installed base of Patchliner and Port-a-Patch instruments has grown constantly ever since. To cover the increasing interest and activities within the fields of ion channel screening, scientific and contract research, the subsidiary Nanion Technologies China is now officially open.

Andy Di, General Manager, Nanion Technologies China, says:
“Nanion’s customer base in China has grown rapidly over the past couple of years. Nanion’s products are very appreciated here because of their vast experimental freedom paired with increased throughput and affordable consumables. Because of their high quality and reliability, products like the SyncroPatch 96, the Patchliner and the Port-a-Patch are attractive for both industrial screening purposes and for dedicated academic research.” 

Niels Fertig, CEO of Nanion Technologies GmbH, continues:
“Because of the growing Chinese market and customer base, it was a natural step to expand in China. With the new subsidiary we are able to cover the ever-increasing demand for product demonstrations and installations as well as to continue giving our Chinese customers premium support. We definitely feel that we have the right people in place for this important step in Nanion’s history, and we look forward to a fruitful collaboration with the Nanion team in China. “

Nanion Technologies China offers live product demonstrations and customer training in Beijing and Shanghai, or at the customer site.

Download the full press release here

The Patchliner and the SyncroPatch 96 have successfully been used for compound analysis under current- and voltage clamp recording conditions using different stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes. The exceptional cell-platform-compatibility and the unique experimental possibilities offered by Nanion’s platforms open up whole new avenues for compound safety testing.
Pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes have tremendous potentials for cardiac safety and efficacy testing of drug candidates. By offering an authentic cellular environment they are closer to the actual physiological situation compared to cell lines with over-expressed ion channels. All Nanion’s patch clamp platforms, the Port-a-Patch, the Patchliner and the SyncroPatch 96, show exceptional compatibility with stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes provided by Axiogenesis, CDI and Geron/GE Healthcare.

In a joint publication of Nanion and Axiogenesis (Journal of Biomolecular Screening, 2011 July 20), drug-induced modulation of cardiac action potentials using the Port-a-Patch and Patchliner were shown for the first time. Stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes have also been investigated on the SyncroPatch 96, recording from 96 cells in parallel under voltage clamp conditions. Stable whole-cell recordings were obtained with high success rates and expected cardiac currents were recorded (K⁺, Ca²⁺, Na⁺).

Ralf Kettenhofen, Senior Scientist of Axiogenesis, Cologne, Germany, says:
“At Axiogenesis, we were very impressed of the high success rates quickly obtained with Nanion’s platforms. In our view, the combination of an in vitro cardiac cell model together with higher throughput patch clamp screening technology such as the Patchliner, allows for a cost effective cardiotoxicity prediction in a physiologically relevant cell system.”

Axiogenesis is a provider of pure rodent embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (Cor.At^®) which have been proven to be a predictive tool in preclinical cardiac safety assessment and drug discovery and development. The Cor.At^® cardiomyocytes will now be complemented by human induced pluripotent stell cell-derived (Cor.4U^®) cardiomyocytes, which will be launched in Q1 2012.

Niels Fertig, CEO of Nanion Technologies continues:
“Over the past two years, the interest from the pharmaceutical industry in using stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes for safety testing purposes has grown dramatically. To meet this need we have developed our platforms to fit experimental requirements and industry quality standards. It is up to the user to decide: routine analysis in voltage clamp mode, or investigating the compound effect on action potentials since both screening modes are possible. No other APC platform on the market can compete with that at today’s date.”

Download the full press release here. (49 kB)

Voltage-gated sodium channels have proven very difficult to crystallize and thus also difficult to obtain a detailed structure of the functional protein. Using a reductionist approach described in the recent PNAS paper, Professor Dan Minor and his research group at the University of San Francisco, USA, together with Nanion scientists, are on their way to reveal the structural impact on selectivity and permeability of sodium channel pores.
In the paper published in PNAS, David Shaya and co-authors show bilayer recordings of functional, pore-only Nav channels. By reducing the complexity of the voltage-gated sodium channels, for example by removing the voltage sensing domain in the extracellular part of the ion channel complex, the researchers hope to be able to crystallize the pore forming domains, as a step towards revealing the full structure of Nav as well as Cav-channels. Indeed, a single-point mutation of the pore-only Nav’s showed altered pore selectivity towards calcium ions.

“It meant a lot of hard work to successfully reconstitute the three functional Nav pore-only channels into lipid bilayers. Luckily, the Port-a-Patch offers fast and straightforward means for ultra-high-quality electrophysiological recordings from ion channels residing in solvent free, artificial bilayers, and enabled me to find the right conditions for the dissected Nav-channels. It was a really cool feeling, to be the first person in the world to record and characterize these ion channels.”
says Dr. Mohamed Kreir, Application Scientist at Nanion, who did the electrophysiology recordings of the dissected sodium ion channel pores.

The method described in this paper, implies a general way to study biophysical aspects of pore structure, and for example the modification by small molecules. The authors suggest that this might be an attractive model for the pharmaceutical industry to reveal compound effects on the pore domain of basically any voltage gated ion channel.

Visit Professor Minor’s web page.
Download the full paper.
For more Nanion-related papers, visit Downloads.
Find more Port-a-Patch information.

Accurate screening of ligand gated channels, high throughput and data quality is now a possible combination thanks to the SyncroPatch 96. 

The SyncroPatch 96 is a full-blown screening platform supporting giga-seal whole-cells recordings from 96 cells in parallel. Allowing full dose response analysis from the individual cells, the SyncroPatch 96 is ideal for studies of both ligand- and voltage-gated ion channels. High quality recordings together with brief and precise compound application grant minimal false-positives and negatives in the drug screening process. 
Find out more by downloading the NEW SyncroPatch 96 product sheet! 

Adam Hendricson, Ph.D., Applied Biotechnology & Lead Evaluation, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Wallingford, CT, USA, says:

“The flexibility of the SyncroPatch 96 to run ligand-gated assays without sacrificing throughput or fidelity relative to voltage-gated channels really sets it apart in the gigaseal auto-EP space.”

Dr. Adam Hendricson’s will be presenting at the following meetings: 

“Changing the Game in Ion Channels – Ultra High-Throughput in Automated Electrophysiology”
World Pharma Congress, Screening Summit: Tools and Technologies for HTS, Philadelphia, PA, USA 

“Bridging the Gaps in Ion Channel Hit-to-Lead with SyncroPatch 96: Ultra-High Throughput Auto-EP”
Aurora Ion Channel Retreat 2011, Vancouver, Canada

Ask us for more data, information or a quote by sending an email to info@nanion.de.

Download the new SyncroPatch 96 Product Sheet here! (780kB)

We have grown out of our old facilities and now double the size of our Munich office! With our 1500 m² we will have plenty of space for:

Expansion of the technical development

Expanded and increased production lines

Running labs for courses, assay development and product demonstrations

In case you are having trouble reaching us during the first week of May, please bear with us! Telephone lines are still being installed, so the most reliable way to get in contact is over info@nanion.de during this week. We are sorry for the inconvenience!

New address:
Nanion Technologies GmbH
Gabrielenstrasse 9
80636 Munich
Germany

Come and visit us in central Munich and we’ll give you a tour in our Feng Shui compatible facilities!

Munich, Germany, March 4^th, 2011; The new year has started well for Nanion; in the first weeks of 2011 more than five Patchliners were sold and shipped to academic institutions, intended for advanced ion channel research and screening projects, and are soon to be followed by the first SyncroPatch 96 shipment and installation.

The Patchliner, a highly versatile patch clamp screening platform for increased throughput, has been on the market since 2006. Patchliner customers are evenly distributed over pharmaceutical industry, contract research organizations and academic institutions because of the flexibility and increased throughput of the platform.
Again highlighted by the recent sales, the Patchliner is a much appreciated tool for academic research, mainly because of the high data quality obtained with the platform, and its vast experimental freedom.

Together with three additional Principal Investigators, Dr. Todd Scheuer and Dr. William Catterall invested in both the Patchliner and the Port-a-Patch to form a core facility for ion channel screening and research at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
Dr. Todd Scheuer, Research Professor at the Department of Pharmacology, University of Washington, Seattle, says:
“We invested in the Patchliner because of its great experimental flexibility. The diversity of our research projects requires a platform capable of high performance with a multitude of ion channels and cells, as well as experimental possibilities such as action potential- or primary cell recordings.”

In the southern hemisphere, Dr. Steven Petrou, Associate Director at the Florey Neuroscience Institute, and Associate Professor at the Centre for Neuroscience, The University of Melbourne, Australia, invested in multiple Patchliners for the ion channel core facility there.
Dr. Steven Petrou says:
“We recently bought several Patchliners to cover the needs of our neuroscience research projects and to establish an ion channel core facility for the wider ion channel research community. Indeed, the Patchliner has unique experimental features including temperature control, internal perfusion and fast solution exchange. This in combination with supporting giga-Ohm seals and having a throughput corresponding to 100 dose responses per day convinced us that Patchliner will be of great use in our current, but also future research projects.”

Dr. Niels Fertig, CEO of Nanion says:
“We are of course very pleased with this year’s sales trend, which reflects the customers’ appreciation of our high fidelity patch clamp platform and the strong scientific background of our support team. As a consequence, we have expanded the US-office to match the demand for demonstration and to cover possible assay support. Further, the installation of another five Patchliners in top-notch academic laboratories confirms its strength and unparalleled experimental features.”

Download the full press release in English here  (69 kB)

North Brunswick, NJ, USA, February 1^st, 2011; Nanion welcomes Dr. Joerg Oestreich to the team. With Dr. Oestreich’s strong background in electrophysiology screening assays, Nanion continues to offer premium support for the US-market.

Dr. Joerg Oestreich, previously  Study Director at Chantest Corporation, Cleveland, OH, has a solid background in electrophysiology and high throughput drug discovery. Dr. Oestreich received his Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin, and continued with post-doc studies at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA within the field of electrophysiology. Having experience with a multitude of ion channels targets and cellular assays, Dr. Oestreich is a great match for the Nanion team.

Rodolfo Haedo, General Manager of Nanion Inc., says:
“With the rapidly growing number of Patchliner and Port-a-Patch customers, Dr. Oestreich is a needed and welcome contribution to the US-team. I am convinced that his valuable expertise and professional experience will come very handy for covering the ever-increasing demand of product demonstrations, workshops and assay support.”

Joerg Oestreich says:
“I find Nanion’s vision and product portfolio very convincing; the Port-a-Patch and Patchliner are excellent and important research platforms that are not only suited for industrial ion channel research, but also for academia due to their unmatched flexibility and data quality.  They are greatly complemented by the SyncroPatch 96, a screening platform covering the industry’s need for higher throughput and quality in safety testing and drug screening efforts. In addition, Nanion has a very innovative, dynamic, and dedicated team that if required will go through tremendous efforts to  support their customers, and on a personal level is also very pleasant to work with.

Niels Fertig, CEO continues:
“I am happy to welcome Dr. Joerg Oestreich to the team! Despite of the global economic crisis, we see a clearly positive trend in the US sales of our robotic platforms. 2011 will be a very exciting year, especially on the US- and Asian markets with the upcoming installations of the SyncroPatch 96.”

Munich, Germany, December 16th, 2010; Researches from the LMU and Nanion Developed a Planar Patch Clamp Approach to Characterize Ionic Currents from Intact Lysosomes

Since its launch in the early 1980s, the patch clamp method has been extensively used to study ion channels in the plasma membrane, but its application to the study of intracellular ion channels has been limited. Unlike the plasma membrane, intracellular membranes are usually not stable enough to withstand mechanical manipulation by glass electrodes during seal formation and rupturing of the membrane. To circumvent these problems, we developed a method involving the immobilization of isolated organelles on a solid matrix planar glass chip. This glass chip contains a microstructured hole that supports the formation of gigaseals and subsequent electrophysiological recordings despite the high fragility of intracellular membranes.

In a collaboration between the Teams of Prof. Christian Wahl-Schott and Prof Martin Biel from the LMU and Dr. Andrea Brüggemann from Nanion Technologies it was possible to develop a method, which allows to record the ionic currents from intact Lysosomes. The detailed Method is published in Science Signaling, 7 December 2010.

We want to continue with this successful collaboration and further develop this method for other organelles, says Andrea Brüggemann.

'Increased freedom to operate for everyone in automated patch clamping'

Munich, Germany, April 15th, 2010; Nanion Technologies GmbH (Nanion), a supplier of automated, parallel patch-clamp systems based in Munich, Germany, today announced that a Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) has overturned an earlier decision of the Opposition Division to uphold patent EP 1,040,349 owned by Molecular Devices, Inc. (MDC).

Download the complete press release here in English (105kb)

Nanion's Product Catalog has been updated. Check it out for the latest product information.

SyncroPatch^®96 - Giga-seal recordings from 96 cells in parallel

Suction Control Pro - Pressure clamp extension for Nanion's second generation Suction Control for the Port-a-Patch^®

Ultra-Fast Perfusion System - Nanion's new Add-On for the Port-a-Patch^®

Download our new Product Catalog here (13.789kb)

Munich, Germany, Nov. 26th, 2009. Nanion Technologies GmbH was announced the overall winner of the STEP Award 2009, a business award for innovative and fast-growing companies. More than 120 companies competed in this year's STEP Award and Nanion as the grand prize-winner receives a cash prize of € 50,000 and a comprehensive service package worth the same amount.

http://www.step-award.de

Download the complete press release in English  (40kb)

Nanion’s Patchliner^® allows temperature controlled experiments, either at physiological temperatures or by application of temperature jumps.

Here, TRPV1 receptors were activated by noxious temperatures (>42 ˚C) using the temperature regulation feature of the Patchliner^®. Solution were heated to temperatures up to 60 ˚C in the pipette and rapidly applied to the cell, transiently activating TRPV1 channels. The temperature responses were compared to capsaicin activation, and could also be blocked by co-application of antagonist and tempered solutions.

During the award ceremony in Berlin, Nanion was announced winner of the Deutscher Gründerpreis 2009. The Deutscher Gründerpreis is the most prestigious award for outstanding entrepreneurs in Germany.

Download the complete press release here in English  (127kb), in German (125kb)

Nanion and Axiogenesis present parallel patch clamp recordings of action potentials from Cor.At^® Cardiomyocytes Stem cell derived cardiomyocytes were analyzed using Nanion’s Patchliner^® and Port-a-patch^® to validate the ion channel composition, the presence of action potentials and the effects of compounds on cardiac channels.

Download the complete press release here in English(49kb), in German (55kb)

Download the Patchliner application note here  (624kb)

Download the Port-a-Patch application note here  (557kb)

Axiogenesis website: www.axiogenesis.com

Nanion is once again nominated for a prestigious award: the German Founder Award (Deutscher Gründerpreis).

http://www.deutscher-gruenderpreis.de/owx_medien/media17/1736.pdf

For more information about Nanion’s nomination (in German):
http://www.deutscher-gruenderpreis.de/owx_medien/media17/1734.pdf

The SyncroPatch^®96, a high quality, high throughput patch clamp ion channel screening platform, shows impressive results with a wide variety of ion channel targets and cell lines.

Download the complete press release here (47kb)

Nanion today announces the opening of Nanion Technologies Inc. with headquarters in North Brunswick, NJ, USA. To support the increasing demand of Nanion’s products, and to continue giving premium customer service, Nanion now expands its presence in the American market.

Download the complete press release here   (46kb)

Press release in German  (48kb)

Nanion is again nominated for a prestigious innovation award, due its impressive product portfolio of automated patch clamp systems. More than 350 companies competed in this year's Innovation Award and Nanion is finalist in the category 'Start-Up Companies'.

Download the complete press release here (44kb)

Nanion's Port-a-Patch^® is used for bilayer research and education at the Technical University of Munich.

Starting in 2008, Nanion's Port-a-Patch^® is being used in education and research at the Institute for Biomolecular Systems and Bioelectronics, Department of Physics at the Technical University of Munich. Because of its ease of use and the high quality data generated, the Port-a-Patch^® is of great value in basic biophysical research and hands-on education of students.

"The Port-a-Patch^® allows students and researchers with no prior experience in electrophysiology to rapidly generate research grade data. Within the courses given at the Institute for Biomolecular Systems and Bioelectronics, the students gain hands-on experience in basic membrane biophysics and electrophysiology which is of great value for their education." says Professor Simmel, who holds the Chair of Bioelectronics at the TU Munich Physics Department. His group is devoted to research in bionanotechnology, systems biophysics, and bioelectronics.

Nanion's automated patch clamp system, the Port-a-Patch^®, is recognized as the world's smallest patch clamp device, allowing for ultralow noise recording of single ion channel events in artificial as well as cellular bilayers, in addition to whole-cell recordings. Using Nanion's Vesicle Prep Pro^®, giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) are produced, into which the ion channels of interest are reconstituted. The GUVs, containing ion channels, are used to form high-resistance, solvent-free bilayers, using the Port-a-Patch^®. The procedures of bilayer formation and protein introduction are greatly simplified, increasing the efficiency of the research, as well as drastically increasing data quality compared to other recording techniques, such as the use of black lipid membranes.

Download the complete press release here: download PDF-file (44kb)

Today, Nanion announces the late-stage development of a new automated patch clamp platform: the SyncroPatch^® 96. Developed to meet the throughput demands of industrial ion channel drug screening and safety profiling, and with a price-per-data-point compatible with screening standards, the SyncroPatch^® 96 will offer the highest throughput in the market for high quality HTS-oriented ion channel screening

Following the successful market introduction of two automated patch clamp devices, the Port-a-Patch^® (2004) and the Patchliner^® (2006), Nanion now introduces the SyncroPatch^® 96. The SyncroPatch^® 96 acquires simultaneous recordings from 96 individual cells in a well-plate format and allows for screening of both ligand- and voltage-gated ion channels. The platform supports giga-seal recordings, continuous recording during compound application and addition of multiple compounds to each of the 96 cells. Building on a proven successful technology, the new SyncroPatch^® 96 vastly increases throughput while reducing the cost per data point.

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New application on the Port-a-Patch^®: Automated planar lipid bilayer formation from giant unilammellar vesicles (GUVs) containing ion channel protein for patch clamp analysis.

Published in Lab-on-a-Chip 2008, DOI: 10.1039/b713982a:  'Rapid screening of membrane protein activity: electrophysiological analysis of OmpF reconstituted in proteoliposomes'.

Lab on a Chip (RSC Publishing)

Application Note (306kb)

Solvent-free planar lipid bilayers were formed in an automatic manner by bursting of giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) after gentle suction application through micron-sized apertures in a borosilicate glass substrate. Incubation of GUVs with the purified ion channel protein of interest yielded proteoliposomes. These proteoliposomes allow for immediate recording of channel activity after GUV sealing. This approach reduces the time-consuming, laborious and sometimes difficult protein reconstitution processes normally performed after bilayer formation. Bilayer recordings are attractive for investigations of membrane proteins not accessible to patch clamp analysis, like e.g. proteins from organelles.