Artificial synapses and oxidative stress

作者：Amatore Christian^*; Arbault Stephane; Guille Manon; Lemaitre Frederic

来源：Actualite Chimique, 2011, 348-49: 25-31.

• Amperometry
• superoxide anion
• electrochemistry
• microelectrodes
• nitric oxide
• phagocytosis
• oxidative stress
• vasodilatation

Artificial synapses and oxidative stress Free radical production in aerobic living beings is generally perceived only through a negative viewpoint since one focuses mostly on their deleterious effects. Yet, oxidative stress is an essential mechanism underlying many important functions in aerobic organisms including non specific immune defenses or many regulations. This is mostly true for the primary species of oxidative stress, namely the superoxide anion and nitric oxide. However, any direct investigation of the production of these primary species was hampered up to the introduction by our group of the "artificial synapse" in this context. This article describes in first instance the principle of the method and justifies its high analytical performance. It focuses then onto its application to the investigation of two central mechanisms relying on oxidative stress: phagocytosis, active in macrophages, which provides non-specific means of fighting against microbial infections, and neurovascular coupling in brain, which allows our neurons to regulate their blood supply as a function of their activity and which is at the very basis of the current imaging techniques of brain activity.

• 出版日期2011-2