The central nervous system consists of a vast array of cells and synapses which depend on a delicate and precise chemical balance for normal function. Disruption of this chemical balance underlies diseases of the nervous system including the major neuropsychiatric disorders. However, because of the complexity of the central nervous system it remains difficult to define precisely the molecular content of nerve cells and synapses in normal or disease states. The long-term objective of this research program is to develop and implement new instrumentation with greatly increased capability for micro-separation and ultra-sensitive of the chemical content of neurons. Capillary electrophoresis, either free zone or gel-packed, will be used to fractionate molecules from single neurons, synapses, neuronal releasates, or individual synaptic vesicles. Analytes will be quantitated by optical means using laser induced fluorescence and laser opto-thermal deflection in conjunction with charge coupled detector devices. It may be possible to perform analyses which are greater than one million fold more sensitive than current techniques.
| Fishman, H A; Scheller, R H; Zare, R N (1994) Microcolumn sample injection by spontaneous fluid displacement. J Chromatogr A 680:99-107 |
| Shear, J B; Dadoo, R; Zare, R N (1994) Field programming to achieve uniform sensitivity for on-line detection in electrophoresis. Electrophoresis 15:225-7 |
| Fishman, H A; Amudi, N M; Lee, T T et al. (1994) Spontaneous injection in microcolumn separations. Anal Chem 66:2318-29 |
| Shear, J B; Dadoo, R; Fishman, H A et al. (1993) Optimizing fluorescence detection in chemical separations for analyte bands traveling at different velocities. Anal Chem 65:2977-82 |
| Shear, J B; Colon, L A; Zare, R N (1993) Automated velocity programming for increased detection zone residence times in capillary electrophoresis. Anal Chem 65:3708-12 |
| Sweedler, J V; Shear, J B; Fishman, H A et al. (1991) Fluorescence detection in capillary zone electrophoresis using a charge-coupled device with time-delayed integration. Anal Chem 63:496-502 |
