Secretion of catecholamines from individual adrenal medullary chromaffin cells.

Catecholamine secretion has been measured with electrochemical techniques from isolated, single adrenal medullary chromaffin cells with carbon-fiber microelectrodes. The electrode tip, which is of similar dimensions to the cell, is placed adjacent to the cell to enable the measurement of local secretion. Secretion is caused by exposing the cell to nanoliter volumes of solution containing nicotinic receptor agonists or depolarizing agents. The identification of secreted substances is made with cyclic voltammetry at both bare electrodes and electrodes coated with a perfluorinated cation-exchange polymer. Catecholamine secretion is induced by nicotine (10-500 microM), carbamylcholine (1 mM), and K+ (60 mM). All agents that induce secretion lead to a broad envelope of secreted catecholamines on which sharp concentration spikes are superimposed. The concentration spikes can be monitored with a time resolution of tens of milliseconds when the electrodes are used in the amperometric mode. Release induced by nicotine and K+ is inhibited by Cd2+ (0.5 mM), and hexamethonium selectively blocks the nicotine-induced secretion. The actions of nicotine are found to continue for a longer period of time than those of the other secretagogues tested.