Institute of Fundamental Technological Research
Polish Academy of Sciences

Partners

Tomasz Wojtowicz

Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences (PL)

Recent publications
1.  Wiera G., Szczot M., Wojtowicz T., Lebida K., Koza P., Mozrzymas J.W., Impact of matrix metalloproteinase-9 overexpression on synaptic excitatory transmission and its plasticity in rat CA3-CA1 hippocampal pathway, JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY AND PHARMACOLOGY, ISSN: 0867-5910, Vol.66, No.2, pp.309-315, 2015

Abstract:
Metalloproteinases (MMPs) have been shown to play a crucial role in synaptic plasticity and cognitive processes. We recently reported that in the mossy fiber - CA3 hippocampal pathway, LTP maintenance required fine-tuned MMP-9 activity, as both MMP-9 excess and absence impaired LTP. Here we used acute brain slices from transgenic (TG) rats overexpressing MMP-9 to investigate the impact of excessive MMP-9 activity on the excitatory synaptic transmission in the CA3-CA1 projection. Using field potential recordings, we have demonstrated that MMP-9 overexpression increased the strength of basal synaptic transmission but had no effect on the short-term plasticity in comparison to the wild-type (WT) group. In attempt to shed light on mechanisms underlying this observation, miniature excitatory postsynaptic potentials (mEPSCs) were recorded from pyramidal CA1 neurons. We found that mEPSCs in the TG group had a significantly slower decaying phase than in WT but amplitudes and frequencies were similar. The lack of differences in mEPSC frequency and short-term plasticity between TG and WT groups suggests that MMP-9 overexpression effect on fEPSPs was mainly postsynaptic. Additionally, we have found that excess of MMP-9 in TG rats was associated with impaired late-phase of LTP in the considered pathway. It seems thus that augmented synaptic strength in TG rats occurred in expense of impaired long-term plasticity induced by tetanization. In conclusion, overexpression of MMP-9 leads to increase in the strength of basal excitatory synaptic transmission and impairs of LTP maintenance phase in the CA3-CA1 pathway in vitro.

Keywords:
hippocampus, metalloproteinase, high frequency stimulation, long-term potentiation, miniature excitatory postsynaptic potentials, field excitatory postsynaptic potentials, synapse

Affiliations:
Wiera G. - Wroclaw Medical University (PL)
Szczot M. - Wroclaw Medical University (PL)
Wojtowicz T. - Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences (PL)
Lebida K. - Wroclaw Medical University (PL)
Koza P. - other affiliation
Mozrzymas J.W. - Wroclaw Medical University (PL)
2.  Wojnar P., Zieliński M., Janik E., Zaleszczyk W., Wojciechowski T., Wojnar R., Szymura M., Kłopotowski Ł., Baczewski L.T., Pietruchik A., Wiater M., Kret S., Karczewski G., Wojtowicz T., Kossut J., Strain-induced energy gap variation in ZnTe/ZnMgTe core/shell nanowires, APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS, ISSN: 0003-6951, DOI: 10.1063/1.4873355, Vol.104, pp.163111-1-5, 2014

Abstract:
Strain-induced changes of ZnTe energy gap in ZnTe/ZnMgTe core/shell nanowires arising from lattice mismatch between the core and the shell semiconductor are studied by means of optical methods. It is shown that the increase of the Mg content in the shell, as well as the increase of the shell thickness result in an effective redshift of the near band edge photoluminescence from ZnTe nanowire cores, which reflects directly the decrease of energy gap under tensile strain conditions. The conclusions are supported by theoretical calculations in terms of the valence force field model. The observed change of ZnTe energy gap can be as large as 120 meV with respect to the unstrained conditions and can be tuned in a continuous manner by adjusting shell parameters, which open a path towards an effective band gap engineering in these structures.

Keywords:
Nanowires, II-VI semiconductors, Magnesium, Band gap, Quantum effects

Affiliations:
Wojnar P. - Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences (PL)
Zieliński M. - other affiliation
Janik E. - other affiliation
Zaleszczyk W. - other affiliation
Wojciechowski T. - Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences (PL)
Wojnar R. - IPPT PAN
Szymura M. - other affiliation
Kłopotowski Ł. - other affiliation
Baczewski L.T. - Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences (PL)
Pietruchik A. - Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences (PL)
Wiater M. - Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences (PL)
Kret S. - Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences (PL)
Karczewski G. - other affiliation
Wojtowicz T. - Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences (PL)
Kossut J. - Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences (PL)

Category A Plus

IPPT PAN

logo ippt            Pawińskiego 5B, 02-106 Warsaw
  +48 22 826 12 81 (central)
  +48 22 826 98 15
 

Find Us

mapka
© Institute of Fundamental Technological Research Polish Academy of Sciences 2024