Research overview
An overall emphasis of our research efforts is the development and application of bioanalytical chemistry techniques to small-volume and single-cell neurochemistry, biology, and biophysics. The importance of this work to the scientific community lies in that it defines the limits for analytical chemistry measurements in ultrasmall biological environments and it provides a means to examine molecular mechanisms of neuronal function and dysfunction (illness) at a level difficult except with molecular biology techniques and with fluorescent chelating agents. We are developing electrochemical, separations and mass spectrometric methods with micrometer and nanometer dimensions to examine these neurochemical systems. A major focus of our current work is also the development of chemical imaging tools (fluorescence, optodes, and mass spectrometric imaging) for analysis of cells and cell networks. The molecular methods we have been developing permit a wide range of messengers to be examined.
Electrochemistry
- Electrochemical detection of exocytosis from single cells
- Electrode arrays for detecting exocytoic release from single cells
- In vivo electrochemistry in Drosophila melanogaster
Microfluidics
Separations
- Separations of biogenic amines in Drosophila melanogaster
- Quantification of contents in single vesicles by capillary electrophoresis
Time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry