Congratulations Dusty and Ethan!
Dusty and Ethan were published today in the Journal of the Electrochemical Society. Their paper is entitled, “Electrochemical Microphysiometry Detects Cellular Glutamate Uptake” and is apart of a special issue of the journal focusing on the brain and electrochemistry.
Below is the abstract and the DOI. Since it is published in JES, it is open access meaning that anyone can read it for free. Please go check it out!
Electrochemical Microphysiometry Detects Cellular Glutamate Uptake
Dusty R. Miller1,=,Ethan S. McClain1,= and David E. Cliffel1,2,*,z
Abstract
Glutamate is the principal excitatory amino acid in the vertebrate nervous system and is responsible for learning and memory. Understanding of these complex biological processes can be gained through experimentally accessible systems of glutamate detection. In this work, the microclinical analyzer (μCA) was used with a sensitive and stable glutamate sensor and model neuronal cells for quantitative glutamate detection under physiological relevant shear. Glutamate was detected by immobilized glutamate oxidase on a screen-printed electrode array. The sensor’s linear range spanned glutamate’s physiological to pathophysiological concentration range, and the biologically relevant sub-second to month temporal range. After 11 hours of use, the sensor retained 91 ± 1% of its signal, and it was able to be stored for a month without a significant decrease. When model neuronal cells were integrated into the μCA bioreactor and exposed to glutamate, they initially took up 210 ± 100 μmoles of glutamate, which increased to 390 ± 50 μmoles during their second exposure. These data suggest that the neurotransmitter uptake systems were functional and may be upregulated. The dynamic and durable μCA platform offers an experimentally accessible system of glutamate detection that can be used to monitor glutamate metabolism and signaling.
Footnotes
= These authors contributed equally to this work.
* Electrochemical Society Member.
z E-mail: d.cliffel@vanderbilt.edu
DOI: 10.1149/2.0201812jes
J. Electrochem. Soc. 2018 volume 165, issue 12, G3120-G3124