Abstract
The growing importance of nanomaterials toward the detection of neurotransmitter molecules has been chronicled in this review. Neurotransmitters (NTs) are chemicals that serve as messengers in synaptic transmission and are key players in brain functions. Abnormal levels of NTs are associated with numerous psychotic and neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, their sensitive and robust detection is of great significance in clinical diagnostics. For more than three decades, electrochemical sensors have made a mark toward clinical detection of NTs. The superiority of these electrochemical sensors lies in their ability to enable sensitive, simple, rapid, and selective determination of analyte molecules while remaining relatively inexpensive. Additionally, these sensors are capable of being integrated in robust, portable, and miniaturized devices to establish point-of-care diagnostic platforms. Nanomaterials have emerged as promising materials with significant implications for electrochemical sensing due to their inherent capability to achieve high surface coverage, superior sensitivity, and rapid response in addition to simple device architecture and miniaturization. Considering the enormous significance of the levels of NTs in biological systems and the advances in sensing ushered in with the integration of nanotechnology in electrochemistry, the analysis of NTs by employing nanomaterials as interface materials in various matrices has emerged as an active area of research. This review explores the advancements made in the field of electrochemical sensors for the sensitive and selective determination of NTs which have been described in the past two decades with a distinctive focus on extremely innovative attributes introduced by nanotechnology.
Highlights
The brain is the most complex organ in a vertebrate’s body and presents a very challenging and exciting environment for sensing of small molecules called neurotransmitters (NTs).(1) Neurotransmitters are endogenous molecules which act as chemical messengers and are involved in the neurotransmission between neurons
Even though there are more than 100 messenger molecules identified in the neurotransmission process, NTs can be classified into three major types based on their structure, mode of action, and physiological function.[37]. The NTs can be classified as either direct or indirect based on their mode of action and as excitatory or inhibitory based on their physiological function.[5] in this review, we have focused on NT classes based on their chemical structure and detailed the different electrochemical strategies reported for their detection
The information given in this article is comprehensively arranged after thorough and careful consideration of articles published in peer review journals for the detection of neurotransmitters over the past two decades
Summary
The brain is the most complex organ in a vertebrate’s body and presents a very challenging and exciting environment for sensing of small molecules called neurotransmitters (NTs).(1) Neurotransmitters are endogenous molecules which act as chemical messengers and are involved in the neurotransmission between neurons. The conventional method for the detection and quantification of neurotransmitters is microdialysis,(16) which is carried out by using a semipermeable probe that is injected into the brain.[17] Apart from being invasive, another disadvantage of microdialysis is that the technique exhibits low temporal resolution,(1,18) and the withdrawal of the sample for analysis can cause severe damage to the brain tissue.[19,20] Alternately, neurotransmitters can be suffused through the probe for chemical analysis by techniques such as liquid chromatography that is again interfaced with mass spectroscopy or fluorescence spectroscopy for the detection.[8,18,21] Other detection strategies include electrophoresis[22] and optical methods such as photoluminescence,(23) colorimetric analysis,(24) etc All these methods are limited by tedious analysis processes, long time requirement for analysis, and requirement for skilled personnel to handle the high cost capital equipment.[25] Development of strategies with improved accuracy and sensitivity of measurement of low levels of these neurotransmitters will enable early diagnosis and treatment of neurotransmitter disorders, thereby reducing the risk of irreversible complications. Large surface area for catalytic activity, and a high chemical stability once bonded with substrate material are characteristics sought and which make nanostructures promising candidates for development of novel sensors for NTs
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