Sensors 2013, 13(1), 984-1003; doi:10.3390/s130100984
Monitoring Ion Activities In and Around Cells Using Ion-Selective Liquid-Membrane Microelectrodes
Department of Physiology and Biophysics, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 3 December 2012 / Revised: 31 December 2012 / Accepted: 2 January 2013 / Published: 15 January 2013
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ultramicroelectrode Electrochemistry - Theory and Applications)
Abstract
Determining the effective concentration (i.e., activity) of ions in and around living cells is important to our understanding of the contribution of those ions to cellular function. Moreover, monitoring changes in ion activities in and around cells is informative about the actions of the transporters and/or channels operating in the cell membrane. The activity of an ion can be measured using a glass microelectrode that includes in its tip a liquid-membrane doped with an ion-selective ionophore. Because these electrodes can be fabricated with tip diameters that are less than 1 μm, they can be used to impale single cells in order to monitor the activities of intracellular ions. This review summarizes the history, theory, and practice of ion-selective microelectrode use and brings together a number of classic and recent examples of their usefulness in the realm of physiological study.Keywords:
ISM; LIX; Nernst equation
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0).
Scifeed alert for new publications
Never miss any articles matching your research from any publisher- Get alerts for new papers matching your research
- Find out the new papers from selected authors
- Updated daily for 49'000+ journals and 6000+ publishers
- Define your Scifeed now
Share & Cite This Article
MDPI and ACS Style
Lee, S.-K.; Boron, W.F.; Parker, M.D. Monitoring Ion Activities In and Around Cells Using Ion-Selective Liquid-Membrane Microelectrodes. Sensors 2013, 13, 984-1003.