A real-time 5-hydroxytryptamine monitoring system applicable both in vitro and in vivo

This research addresses the challenge of real-time monitoring of the neurotransmitter serotonin (5-HT), a key chemical messenger in the brain whose dynamics are important for understanding neurological disorders. While electrochemical methods are promising for such real-time detection, existing approaches face limitations in maintaining stable performance in physiological settings and achieving precise spatiotemporal measurements. To overcome these barriers, two electrochemical systems were developed: one for monitoring 5-HT secretion from cells and another for tracking 5-HT in the mouse brain. By enhancing electrodes with specific nanocomposites to improve sensitivity and selectivity, the cell system successfully analyzed real-time 5-HT secretion dynamics from rat insulinoma cells with performance comparable to standard methods. The neural interface system effectively tracked 5-HT fluctuations across multiple brain regions in living mice and detected changes induced by external interventions. These platforms enable real-time tracking of 5-HT dynamics both in cells and in living organisms, demonstrating significant potential for studies requiring real-time neurotransmitter monitoring.