This award is made as the starter grant increment of Dr. Robert Kennedy's Postdoctoral Fellowship in Chemistry Award in support of his research at The University of Florida. The research will be an investigation of the electrochemistry of alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone, a tetradecapeptide, with the goal of developing a sensor which can be used to measure its release from individual cells of the rat pituitary gland. Fast scan cyclic voltammetry at carbon fiber microdisk electrodes will yield signals with suitable detection limits and stability. The close spacing of the cell and the electrode will prevent dilution of secreted hormone and allow for the observation of the release profile with minimum diffusional distortion. Liquid chromatography will be implemented to ensure the identity of the voltammetric signal. %%% The successful development of this micro-electro-analytical technique will provide a general method to study peptide secretion from individual cells with the best time resolution yet available.
