A Microfluidic Platform for In-line Dopamine Uptake Measurements in Dopaminergic Neurons

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the world’s second-most serious neurodegenerative disorder, affecting millions of people each year. The current techniques used to screen for new PD therapies in-vitro are unable to integrate dopamine detection on chip with long-term differentiated neuron cell culture. We have developed a digital microfluidic system that integrates long-term neuron culture with electrochemical sensors for monitoring of extracellular dopamine. Initial results show the limit of detection of dopamine to be ~20 nM. Proof of principle was demonstrated through a dopamine uptake assay using differentiated SH-SY5Y neurons. We propose that this represents a useful new tool for identifying new approaches to treating PD.