Liquid chromatography-electrochemical detection of ferro- and ferricytochrome c at a chemically modified gold...

Chemically modified electrodes, constructed by adsorption of 4,4'-dithiodipyridine onto a polyvinylferrocene-treated gold surface, were employed for the amperometric detection of cytochrome c following size-exclusion chromatography. The electrode response was nearly reversible, permitting quantitation both of the ferro-form of the protein at +0.15 V vs. Ag/AgCl and of the ferri-form at -0.15 V. The limit of detection for the reduced species was 3 pmol injected, and the response was linear over three orders of magnitude. Using the chemically modified electrode approach, cytochrome c monitoring was sufficiently selective that the compound could be determined in human plasma pretreated only by dilution and particulate filtration.