ABSTRACT
CLC with electrochemical detection (EC) has been used in a variety of applications including microscale amino acid analysis of proteins [24] and analysis of microdialysate fractions [4]. Perhaps the application that best exemplifies the capabilities of CLC-EC, however, is single cell analysis. CLC-EC was the first modern instrumental technique that was used for quantitative determination of multiple species in single cells [27]. The ability to quantitate the contents of single cells in biology is relevant due to the heterogeneity of tissue, especially in neurobiology. When large populations of cells are analyzed, there is an averaging effect for the cellular components that is dependent on the number of different types of cells and their relative abundance. In microorgans where a number of different cell types are present, it is beneficial to know the chemical composition of the individual cells in order to differentiate their physiological function. Several examples of single cell analysis by LC-EC have been reported, including determination of catecholamines, indoleamines, and amino acids in single neurons and adrenal chromaffin cells [27-29]. Both voltammetric and amperometric detection have been used.
