Many conditions such as stress are commonly known to weaken the immune system which increases the likelihood of infections, autoimmunity, and other immunocompromised conditions. Neuropeptide Y(NPY) is a neuropeptide that is co-packaged in sympathetic neurons in the lymph node and is involved in a multitude of important functions, including serving as an immunomodulator, regulating T cell function, and energy and hunger regulation. The molecular mechanisms that are responsible for these interactions are not well understood.  As of now, there is not a way to measure sympathetic release of NPY in tissue. Here, we have overcome this technological challenge, by developing an electrochemical aptamer-based sensor for NPY detection. Aptamers are useful biological sensors for monitoring a specific molecule because of their high selectivity and binding affinity for the target of choice. A comprehensive comparison of selected aptamers specific for NPY was done to isolate the optimal aptamer sequence for electrochemical detection. The sensor was fabricated by modifying the surface of a gold macro disk electrode with 200nM of aptamer, followed by passivating with a self-assembled monolayer of 6-mercatohexanol. Square wave voltammetry was used to characterize the response of the sensor. Frequencies ranging from 5-800 Hz were tested and peak current was measured to determine the optimal testing frequency. The stability of detection, sensitivity, limit of detection, and specificity was determined at the optimal testing frequency. As a proof-of-principal, the sensors’ use was demonstrated in serum spiked with known concentrations of NPY and the response measured. Future work will focus on scaling the size of the sensor down to the micrometer scale to enable live tissue detection of NPY.

Development of electrochemical aptamer-based neuropeptide y sensor

Fall 2022 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch in mid-September.

ACS Fall 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.