Dynamic electrochemical quantitation of dopamine release from a cells-on-paper system

A hybrid microfluidic/electrochemical system is described for the time-resolved detection of dopamine (DA) from neuron-like PC12 cells cultured on a patch of filter paper. Cell adherence to the surface of the paper is investigated using fluorescence microscopy. DA release after stimulation with acetylcholine, in the presence or absence of drugs, is studied. Overall, the results obtained with this system are in good agreement with single cell data, thus demonstrating the validity of our approach for higher-throughput quantitative chemical analyses on tissue or organs-on-a-chip.