ULTRAMICROELECTRODES - THEIR BASIC PROPERTIES AND THEIR USE IN SEMIARTIFICIAL SYNAPSES

A few basic properties of ultramicroelectrodes are described and expla ined in order to establish that they are not simply small electrodes b ut fully constitute a new and different class of electrodes. In partic ular, they allow the monitoring of fundamental biological events at th e level of a single cell. This is presented and discussed here using t wo examples: the monitoring of quantal vesicular releases of adrenalin e by super-renal chromaffin cells, and the first characterization of a n oxidative stress response from a living cell.