BackgroundAlzheimer disease (AD) is a disease of lost memories. Mushroom postsynaptic spines play a key role in memory storage, and loss of mushroom spines has been proposed to be linked to memory loss in AD. Generation of amyloidogenic peptides and accumulation of amyloid plaques is one of the pathological hallmarks of AD. It is important to evaluate effects of amyloid on stability of mushroom spines.ResultsIn this study we used in vitro and in vivo models of amyloid synaptotoxicity to investigate effects of amyloid peptides on hippocampal mushroom spines. We discovered that application of Aβ42 oligomers to hippocampal cultures or injection of Aβ42 oligomers directly into hippocampal region resulted in reduction of mushroom spines and activity of synaptic calcium-calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMKII). We further discovered that expression of STIM2 protein rescued CaMKII activity and protected mushroom spines from amyloid toxicity in vitro and in vivo.ConclusionsObtained results suggest that downregulation of STIM2-dependent stability of mushroom spines and reduction in activity of synaptic CaMKII is a mechanism of hippocampal synaptic loss in AD model of amyloid synaptotoxicity and that modulators/activators of this pathway may have a potential therapeutic value for treatment of AD.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13024-015-0034-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A method for simple and fast (30−60 s) synthesis of spherical "Fe 3 O 4 core−carbon shell" structures by atmospheric pressure aerosol pyrolysis of benzoic acid in dimethylformamide solutions containing dispersed Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles is described. It has been experimentally shown that it is possible to control both the size of the core−shell particles and the size of Fe 3 O 4 grains and their amount in the particle core by the variation of benzoic acid concentration in solution and using pre-stabilized by mannitol iron oxide nanoparticles. It has been found that particles with an average size of 250−350 nm are formed at the concentration of benzoic acid in the range 0.5−1 mol/L. At a concentration of about 1 mol/L, preliminary stabilization of iron oxide nanoparticles by mannitol with a size of about 180 nm is performed.

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A detailed study of the influence of technological parameters of the plasma chemical etching process in inductively coupled plasma on the etching rate of single-crystal silicon carbide is presented. The physicochemical substantiation of experimentally revealed patterns is given. The optimal gas mixture was determined in terms of the etching rate of SiC. It was experimentally established that the dependence of the etching rate of silicon carbide on the percentage of oxygen in the total gas mixture is non-linear. Thus, with an increase in the percentage of O2 up to 23%, the etching rate of SiC gradually increases to 560 nm/min, a further increase in the percentage of O2 leads to a sharp decrease in the etching rate of SiC up to 160 nm/min at an oxygen content of 31%. The effect of the distance between the sample and the plasma generation zone on the etching rate of SiC was studied. It was shown that the greatest increase in speed is caused by an increase in the bias voltage, so at Ubias = - 50 V the etching rate is 300 nm/min, and at Ubias = - 150 V the value of the etching rate is 840 nm/min. The optimal parameters of the plasma-chemical etching process were selected for high-speed directional etching of single-crystal silicon carbide substrates.