Carbon fiber ultramicrodic electrode electrodeposited with over-oxidized polypyrrole for amperometric detection of vesicular exocytosis from pheochromocytoma cell

Sensors (Basel). 2015 Jan 6;15(1):868-79. doi: 10.3390/s150100868.

Abstract

Vesicular exocytosis is ubiquitous, but it is difficult to detect within the cells' communication mechanism. For this purpose, a 2 µm ultramicrodic carbon fiber electrode was fabricated in this work based on electrodeposition with over-oxidized polypyrrole nanoparticle (PPyox-CFE), which was applied successfully for real-time monitoring of quantal exocytosis from individual pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells. PPyox-CFE was evaluated by dopamine (DA) solutions through cyclic voltammetry and amperometry electrochemical methods, and results revealed that PPyox-CFE improved the detection limit of DA. In particular, the sensitivity of DA was improved to 24.55 µA·µM(-1)·µm(-2) using the PPyox-CFE. The ultramicrodic electrode combined with the patch-clamp system was used to detect vesicular exocytosis of DA from individual PC12 cells with 60 mM K+ stimulation. A total of 287 spikes released from 7 PC12 cells were statistically analyzed. The current amplitude (Imax) and the released charge (Q) of the amperometric spikes from the DA release by a stimulated PC12 cell is 45.1 ± 12.5 pA and 0.18 ± 0.04 pC, respectively. Furthermore, on average ~562,000 molecules were released in each vesicular exocytosis. PPyox-CFE, with its capability of detecting vesicular exocytosis, has potential application in neuron communication research.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adrenal Gland Neoplasms / pathology
  • Animals
  • Carbon / chemistry*
  • Carbon Fiber
  • Dopamine / analysis
  • Electrochemical Techniques / methods*
  • Electrodes
  • Electroplating / methods*
  • Exocytosis*
  • Oxidation-Reduction
  • Pheochromocytoma / pathology*
  • Polymers / chemistry*
  • Pyrroles / chemistry*
  • Rats
  • Signal-To-Noise Ratio
  • Time Factors
  • Transport Vesicles / metabolism*

Substances

  • Carbon Fiber
  • Polymers
  • Pyrroles
  • polypyrrole
  • Carbon
  • Dopamine