Monitoring membrane-bound proteins

A method of examining membrane-bound proteins in a cell, comprising:

• using an apparatus comprising:
• a chamber divided into an upper well and a lower well by an insulating partition;
• and
• a pore penetrating the insulating partition;
• placing a cell in the pore so as to establish a snug fit between the cell and the pore;
• placing a conductive medium in each of the upper well and lower well;
• delivering a radio frequency interrogating signal into the medium to generate an interrogating electric field across the cell within the pore;
• imposing a stimulus voltage across a region of a membrane of the cell;
• and
• using the radio frequency interrogating signal to measure impedance of the membrane and thereby ascertain a state of a protein in the membrane.

A method of testing a pharmacological agent, comprising:

• using an apparatus comprising:
• a chamber divided by an insulating partition into an upper well and a lower well;
• a pore penetrating the insulating partition;
• placing a cell in the pore so as to establish a snug fit between the cell and the pore;
• placing a conductive medium in each of the upper well and lower well;
• delivering a radio frequency interrogating signal into the conductive medium;
• placing an amount of a pharmacological agent in at least one of the upper chamber and the lower chamber;
• and
• ascertaining a state and function of a protein in a membrane of the cell by using the radio frequency interrogating signal to measure impedance of a region of the membrane in the well containing the pharmacological agent relative to a region of the membrane facing the other well.