It is very difficult to complete the application of RT-PCR based on a single cell because of the low level of mRNA. This study is to explore a novel experimental technique to achieve a repeatable process of the single cell RT-PCR, which could be used to characterize the biophysical properties of ion channels genes in a single neuron. The single cell was picked by a glass micropipette, followed by a standard RT-PCR to explore the expression levels of ion channel genes. Single-cell RT-PCR could serve as a precise detector to analyze the molecular basis of the special electrophysiological characteristics. Using the method proposed in the article can be repeated to obtain the expression of HCN1 and HPRT in the big cell of rat dorsal root ganglion. It is enough to continues the next experiment, which proves the feasibility of this technique.

single cell; RT-PCR; molecular biology; ion channel