TMEM16A on Qube

TMEM16A (ANO1) is a Ca2+-activated Cl-channel (CaCC) that is involved in a plethora of physiological and pathophysiological conditions. The channel was suggested as target for treatment of asthma, secretory diarrheas, and hypertension. TMEM16A is unique as its gating ynergistically depends on voltage and cytosolic Ca2+ (Scudieri et al. 2012). A robust TMEM16A assay was long awaited but progress was hampered as many automated patch clamp devices rely on the use of fluoride in the internal solution. Fluoride exhibits a very low solubility with calcium which means that calcium that is added to the internal solution to activate the channel has a strong tendency to precipitate, making it impossible to correctly adjust the calcium concentration.