Potassium ion channel assay for high-throughput screening

Potassium channels are responsible for a variety of cellular functions including the maintenance and regulation of membrane potential, secretion of salts, hormones, and neurotransmitters. The dysfunction of potassium channels has been associated with many human diseases. Off-target drug effects on potassium channels have been linked to cardiac toxicity. Due to their crucial physiological functions and their implication in drug-induced toxicity, potassium channels are heavily investigated by the pharmaceutical industry. Furthermore, cell-based functional assays have increasingly been used because they yield more physiologically-relevant results. Challenges exist in measuring K+ ion channel activity in a high-throughput format. A widely adopted technique is to use the fluorometric method where the binding of thallium to thallium-sensitive fluorescent dyes is utilized as a surrogate measurement of potassium channel activity.

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A Novel Homogenous Potassium Ion Channel Assay for High-Throughput Screening