Patent Document ID: 9278159
Application ID: 11459638
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A method of predicting potential ion channel modulating properties of a drug, the method comprising: a) labeling a neuronal cell with a voltage sensitive dye, wherein the neuronal cell stably expresses a light-activated cation channel protein and an ion channel of interest, wherein the light-activated cation channel protein comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 75% amino acid sequence identity to ChR2; b) exposing the neuronal cell to light, wherein the light is delivered at a frequency of at least 20 Hz; c) monitoring the voltage sensitive dye to determine a first response in said cell; d) exposing said dye-labeled neuronal cell to a candidate drug; e) after exposing said cell to the candidate drug, further exposing said cell to light; f) monitoring the voltage sensitive dye to determine a second response in said cell; and g) comparing said first and second responses to identify a potential ion channel modulating property of said candidate drug, wherein a second response that is higher than the first response indicates that the candidate drug modulates the ion channel.