Cell communication (biology)
In cells, DNA is housed in the nucleus and it never leaves. The DNA within the nucleus is transcribed by tRNA, and the transcriptions of the DNA become RNA. The RNA (ribonucleic acid) leaves the nucleus to float freely around the cytoplasm, and it contains the instructions of the DNA that are vital to the coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. The ribosomes then take the RNA messages and turn them into proteins that build cells. When a virus enters a cell and inserts its DNA code into the nucleus, it gets transcribed and released into the cell for the ribosome to make it into a protein. This is how viral infections occur. The cell then explodes with the overproduction of the virus, releasing it into the body to infect any and all other cells it finds. It is theorized that through evolution, cells developed a defense system called RNAi (RNA interference) to stop the production of the proteins that have suspicious mirror image messages of the RNA. They don’t just destroy the suspicious messages, but the correct messages as well to stop all production of that message. This is a cell’s self-destruct mechanism and every cell, plant and animal, have RNAi: a way to turn off the production of a certain gene inside the protein.
Electrophysiology
Intracellular recording involves measuring voltage and/or current across the membrane of a cell. To make an intracellular recording, the tip of a fine (sharp) microelectrode must be inserted inside the cell, so that the membrane potential can be measured. Typically, the resting membrane potential of a healthy cell will be -60 to -80 mV, and during an action potential the membrane potential might reach +40 mV.
In 1963, Alan Lloyd Hodgkin and Andrew Fielding Huxley won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their contribution to understanding the mechanisms underlying the generation of action potentials in neurons. Their experiments involved intracellular recordings from the giant axon of Atlantic squid (Loligo pealei), and were among the first applications of the "voltage clamp" technique.
Today, most microelectrodes used for intracellular recording are glass micropipettes, with a tip diameter of < 1 micrometre, and a resistance of several megohms. The micropipettes are filled with a solution that has a similar ionic composition to the intracellular fluid of the cell. A chlorided silver wire inserted into the pipet connects the electrolyte electrically to the amplifier and signal processing circuit. The voltage measured by the electrode is compared to the voltage of a reference electrode, usually a silver chloride-coated silver wire in contact with the extracellular fluid around the cell. In general, the smaller the electrode tip, the higher its electrical resistance, so an electrode is a compromise between size (small enough to penetrate a single cell with minimum damage to the cell) and resistance (low enough so that small neuronal signals can be discerned from thermal noise in the electrode tip).