Dimethyl sulfoxide effects on hERG channels expressed in HEK293 cells.

Introduction: Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is widely used as a solvent to facilitate formulation of test substances in cell perfusion solutions. However, DMSO concentration in bath (extracellular) solution is usually limited to 0.1-0.

Inwardly rectifying and voltage-gated outward potassium channels exhibit low sensitivity to methylmercury.

The concentration- and time-dependence of effects of methylmercury (MeHg) on voltage-gated outward K(+) (Kv) channels, inwardly rectifying K(+) (Kir) channels, voltage-gated Ca(2+) channels and GABA(A) receptor activated channels were compared in cerebellar granule cells in culture using whole cell patch clamp recording techniques. The objective was to determine if MeHg equally affects different types of ion channels. Under similar experimental conditions, these four ion channel types displayed markedly different sensitivity to MeHg.