Effect of Ionic Strength on the Electrochemical Behavior of Glutathione on a Phospholipid Self-Assembled Monolayer on Mercury

Abstract

A voltammetric study of the permeability of redox couple oxidized glutathione/reduced glutathione (GSSG/GSH) through a membrane biomimetic model has been carried out. The biomimetic model has been obtained by deposition of a self-assembled monolayer of phospholipid on a mercury electrode. Experimental results show that the oxidized form of GSSG is able to penetrate through the phospholipid monolayer to produce an irreversible adsorption peak on the mercury surface. The dependence of current and peak potential on the ionic strength has been studied. No voltammetric signal has been obtained for the reduced form GSH. A simple model of the double layer is employed to analyze the experimental curves. Results obtained are briefly compared with some studies of transport carried out in cell cultures.