Ossola D Amarouch MY Behr P Vörös J Abriel H Zambelli T 2015 From its invention in the 1970s, the patch clamp technique is the gold standard in electrophysiology research and drug screening because it is the only tool enabling accurate investigation of voltage-gated ion channels, which are responsible for action potentials. Because of its key role in drug screening, innovation efforts are being made to reduce its complexity toward more automated systems. While some of these new approaches are being adopted in pharmaceutical companies, conventional patch-clamp remains unmatched in fundamental research due to its versatility. Here, we merged the patch clamp and atomic force microscope (AFM) techniques, thus equipping the patch-clamp with the sensitive AFM force control. This was possible using the FluidFM, a force-controlled nanopipette based on microchanneled AFM cantilevers. First, the compatibility of the system with patch-clamp electronics and its ability to record the activity of voltage-gated ion channels in whole-cell configuration was demonstrated with sodium (NaV1.5) channels. Second, we showed the feasibility of simultaneous recording of membrane current and force development during contraction of isolated cardiomyocytes. Force feedback allowed for a gentle and stable contact between AFM tip and cell membrane enabling serial patch clamping and injection without apparent cell damage. https://sonar.ch/global/documents/132005 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1021/nl504438z info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/25639960 Nano letters. - 2015 FluidFM NaV1.5 channels Whole-cell patch clamp atomic force microscope cardiomyocytes microchanneled AFM cantilevers Action Potentials Equipment Design Equipment Failure Analysis Feedback HEK293 Cells Humans Ion Channel Gating Membrane Potentials Micro-Electrical-Mechanical Systems Micromanipulation Microscopy, Atomic Force Myocardial Contraction Myocytes, Cardiac NAV1.5 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel Patch-Clamp Techniques Stress, Mechanical Force-controlled patch clamp of beating cardiac cells. http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501