A multichannel glutamate sensor was fabricated that consists of enzyme modi
fied electrodes and has a high sensitivity and selectivity to glutamate. We
placed a rat hippocampal slice on the sensor and monitored the current at
four electrodes resulting from the stimulation with muscimol, a gamma -amin
obutyric acid(A) (GABA(A)) receptor agonist. We obtained different glutamat
e concentration increases at the different positions, suppressed by bicucul
line, a GABA(A) receptor antagonist. This demonstrated that the sensor can
monitor the glutamate released via GABA(A) receptors pathways, and the diff
erence in the concentrations may indicate differences in the distribution o
f GABA(A) receptor as well as diverse receptor functions. This multichannel
sensor may be useful for non-invasive, real-time monitoring of glutamate d
istribution, which would make it a valuable tool for pharmacological analys
is. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.