Scanning electrochemical microscopy of single human urinary bladder cells using reactive oxygen species as probe of inflammatory response

Scanning electrochemical microscopy of single human bladder (T24) and kidney (A498) epithelial cells after stimulation with heat-killed uropathogenic Escherichia coli GR-12 was investigated for the first time. T24 cells treated with the hk-UPEC in time-lapsed images showed prolonged release of reactive oxygen species (ROS) due to toll-like receptors (TLR4), while A498 cells without TLR4 did not show the ROS increase after the dosage of the same stimulant. This indicates discrete pathways of triggering the inflammatory. It also reveals that ROS can be used as a probe to detect inflammatory response to gram-negative bacteria.