Whole-Cell Patch-Clamp Recordings on Spinal Cord Slices

Whole-cell patch-clamp recording technique is a powerful tool to study intrinsic membrane properties and synaptic interactions in the spinal cord. Spinal cord slice is an idea preparation for electrophysiological studies under physiological and pharmacological manipulation that is difficult to perform in an in vivo preparation. Depending on experimental purposes, the extracellular and intracellular environment of neurons can be easily controlled during whole-cell recording to isolate membrane conductance of interest and to manipulate its modulation, which is important for addressing cellular mechanisms under particular physiological and pathological conditions. Several methods for preparing spinal cord slices have been developed for whole-cell patch-clamp recordings. Here we describe practical procedures for preparing spinal cord slices from adult rats and whole-cell recording from neurons in the spinal dorsal horn.