Revealing the Ion Channel Switch of the Cell Membrane via Electrochemiluminescence Pattern Transformation

Ion channels as transmembrane proteins provide an important transport pathway for specific ions through cell membranes, which are crucial to studies involving the pathophysiology of the nervous system. However, the switch between different conformational states (i.e., open versus closed) of a channel is difficult to be in situ identified with a high throughput. Here, we proposed ionic tunable electrochemiluminescence (ECL) imaging to study ion channels in a simple manner. The ionic influx via ion channels across the cell membrane determines the amount of intracellular ECL luminophores, which is displayed by two ECL patterns (negative versus positive) in cellular regions. Owing to the variable permeable selectivity of the plasma membrane to different ions, the dynamic ECL pattern transformation reflects the penetration competition of different cations in extracellular circumstances. The universality of ECL pattern transformation is validated with respect to different kinds of cells. More importantly, the cellular ECL pattern reflects the specific interaction between the ion channel and its modulators including inhibitors and agonists, providing a tool to screen potential drugs that target ion channels.