Neurotransmitter Release of Reprogrammed Cells Using Electrochemical Detection Methods

The detection of neurotransmitter release from reprogrammed human cell is an important demonstration of their functionality. Electrochemistry has the distinct advantages over alternative methods that it allows for the measuring of the analyte of interest at a high temporal resolution. This is necessary for fast events, such as neurotransmitter release and reuptake, which happen in the order of milliseconds to seconds. The precise description of these kinetic events can lead to insights into the function of cells in health and disease and allows for the exploration of events that might be missed using methods that look at absolute concentration values or methods that have a slower sampling rate. In the present chapter, we describe the use of constant potential amperometry and enzyme-coated multielectrode arrays for the detection of glutamate in vitro. These biosensors have the distinct advantage of “self-referencing,” a method providing high selectivity while retaining outstanding temporal resolution. Here, we provide a step-by-step user guide for a commercially available system and its application for in vitro systems such as reprogrammed cells.