Direct real-time measurements of purinergic agents and reactive oxygen species concentrations have been of great value in understanding the functional roles of these substances in a number of diseases including chronic kidney disease and hypertension. The interstitial concentrations of these intermediate signaling molecules and dynamics of their release are important autocrine and paracrine factors in the kidney, which play a key role in the regulation of oxidative stress, inflammation, and kidney damage. Analysis of signaling mechanisms, especially in vivo and ex vivo, has been slowed by deficiencies of existing methods for direct measurements of the signaling molecules concentrations in whole organs and acute changes in response to endocrine factors. The multienzymatic microelectrode biosensors technique was originally developed and used for the detection of purines release in the brain and in present could be modified to identify the interplay between different substances that could be measured simultaneously in whole organs, such as the kidney. Adaptation of this method for renal and cardiovascular studies represents a unique powerful approach for real-time monitoring of substance level fluctuations in organs or tissues under normal or pathological conditions.
Keywords: ATP; amperometry; biosensors; kidney; purinergic signaling.