# Developing Electrochemical Sensors to Enable Quantitative Measure of Gliotransmitter Release from Astrocytes

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI · 2024 · $364,546

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Objectives. The primary objective of this proposal is to develop chemically specific electrochemical sensors to provide
rapid and direct measurements of physiologically relevant chemical messenger release (technology development). The
secondary objective is to apply these sensors to determine signaling heterogeneity in astrocytes from different brain regions
(biological hypothesis).
Significance and Knowledge Gap. Astrocytes act as integrators across many circuits and environments in the brain and
how they interact with other cell types can vary in time and space. Rigorous prior research demonstrates that astrocytes are
heterogenous, varying by brain region and circuit. Heterogeneity can be affected by transcriptional control related to synapse
function, plasticity, molecular transmission and protein machinery and organelles that underly gliotransmission. Astrocyte
heterogeneity also affects how this class of cells respond to insults and age and can potentially be predictive of disease
vulnerability. Astrocytes have typically been studied as a homogenous population, thus there is a need to study functional
heterogeneity of astrocytes (e.g., signaling) to determine functional roles of astrocytes in development, response to injuries,
and neurodegenerative disease and how this response influences local circuit function and homeostasis.
Solution and Specific Aims. A major barrier to studying gliotransmission is the lack of measurement tools that possess the
combined spatiotemporal and chemical specificity to study dynamic molecular signaling from astrocytes. We aim to develop
a sensor platform that overcomes this barrier by providing direct and rapid measurement of gliotransmission over broad
spatial and temporal ranges. Through a collaborative proposal we propose to leverage the universal and specific chemical
detection abilities of electrochemical, aptamer-based (E-AB) sensors with innovative measurement science for rapid
determination of gliotransmitter dynamics and heterogeneity. With this new measurement technology, we aim to test the
hypothesis that gliotransmitter signaling varies in terms of the frequency, amount, and identity of transmitters released with
circuit-, and inter- and intraregional specificity. We will 1) Develop electrochemical, aptamer-based (E-AB) sensors to
monitor real-time release of gliotransmitters from a cell population in 3D culture. 2) Develop recessed, microscale E-AB
sensors to monitor the release of gliotransmitters from single astrocytes. 3) Develop recessed, nanoscale sensors to monitor
the release of gliotransmitters from sub-cellular regions. 4) Select and characterize highly specific structure-switching
nucleic acid aptamers as binding partners for glutamate, GABA, and D-serine with nM affinity for use in aims 1-3.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10862802
- **Project number:** 5R01NS134365-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI
- **Principal Investigator:** Ryan J. White
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $364,546
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-06-15 → 2028-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10862802

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10862802, Developing Electrochemical Sensors to Enable Quantitative Measure of Gliotransmitter Release from Astrocytes (5R01NS134365-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10862802. Licensed CC0.

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