In vivo nitric oxide measurements using a microcoaxial electrode.

Abstract

Nitric oxide (NO) is a vital molecule contributing to numerous physiological phenomena in various biological systems. To investigate the physiological role of NO, a range of NO-specific electrodes allowing direct and continuous NO measurement have been developed for in vitro and in vivo NO detection. A microcoaxial electrode has also been developed for the measurement of real-time NO levels. Because the working and reference electrodes in this device are situated close together, the microcoaxial electrode is considered to be ideal for the measurement of local NO concentrations with high spatial resolution. The microcoaxial electrode has been successfully applied to the real-time measurement of NO in endothelial cells, thereby demonstrating its effectiveness as an NO-specific electrode. In this chapter, we describe our experimental protocol for performing real-time NO measurements that was developed during physiological experiments using the microcoaxial electrode.