title: Amperometric detection of quantal catecholamine secretion from individual cells on micromachined silicon chips.
abstract: We have fabricated electrochemical electrodes in picolitersized wells for measuring catecholamine release from individual cells with millisecond resolution. Each well-electrode roughly conforms to the shape of the cell in order to capture a large fraction of released catecholamine with high time resolution. Using this device, we can resolve spikes in amperometric current corresponding to quantal catecholamine release via exocytosis. In addition, we have combined amperometric recording on the chip with patch-clamp recordings of membrane capacitance as an assay of exocytosis. A quantitative comparison of the two methods suggests that a large fraction of catecholamine release is oxidized on the surface of the well-electrode. This technology has applications in cell-based biosensor development, high-throughput screening of drugs, and basic science investigations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Engineering, University of Missouri-Columbia, Research Park Drive, Columbia, Missouri, 65211, USA.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Bai
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Natalya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tokranova
authors.forename: Xiaojun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Castracane
authors.forename: Kevin D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Gillis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002395:Catecholamines / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D002417:Cattle; D019439:Chromaffin Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D004563:Electrochemistry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D004566:Electrodes; D008904:Miniaturization; D012825:Silicon
chemical_list: D002395:Catecholamines; D012825:Silicon