Although microglial cells are not electrically excitable, they express a large repertoire of ion channels that are activated by voltage, stretch, extracellular ligands, or intracellular pathways (e.g. Ca2+, G-proteins). The patch-clamp technique is the electrophysiological method of choice to study these channels whose expression varies largely in pathological conditions but also during normal development and aging. This chapter focuses on protocols allowing the recording and the analysis of these channels in acute brain slices, with a particular emphasis on the study of channels activated by extracellular ligands.
Keywords: Acute slice; CX3CR1; Microglia; Patch recording; Purinergic receptor; Uncaging.