Use-dependent synapse remodeling is thought to provide a cellular mechanism for encoding durable memories, yet whether activity triggers an actual structural change has remained controversial. We use photoconductive stimulation to demonstrate activity-dependent morphological synaptic plasticity by video imaging of GFP-actin at individual synapses. A single tetanus transiently moves presynaptic actin toward and postsynaptic actin away from the synaptic junction. Repetitive spaced tetani induce glutamate receptor-dependent stable restructuring of synapses. Presynaptic actin redistributes and forms new puncta that label for an active synapse marker FM5-95 within 2 hr. Postsynaptic actin sprouts projections toward the new presynaptic actin puncta, resembling the axon-dendrite interaction during synaptogenesis. Our results indicate that activity-dependent presynaptic structural plasticity facilitates the formation of new active presynaptic terminals.
Porous silicon films displaying a distribution of pore dimensions can be generated by electrochemically etching silicon in aqueous ethanolic HF using an asymmetric electrode configuration. The median pore size and breadth of the size‐distribution in the film can be set by adjusting the HF concentration, current density, and position of the counter electrode relative to the silicon electrode. Films with pore sizes in the range of a few nanometers are used as size‐exclusion matrices to perform an on‐chip determination of macromolecule dimensions. The test molecule used in this study is bovine serum albumin (BSA). Optical reflectivity spectra of the thin porous Si films display distinctive shifts in the Fabry–Perot fringes in regions of the film where the pore dimensions are larger than a critical size, interpreted to be the characteristic dimensions of the protein. Gating of the protein in and out of the porous films is demonstrated by adjustment of the solution pH below and above the pI (isoelectric point) value, respectively.
Porous silicon is a substrate highly compatible with living cells!Particularly after treatment of the surface with adhesive serum proteins, primary rat hepatocytes are easily attached while staying viable (shown by fluorescence microscopy with a vital dye—see Figure). Cells thus immobilized remain active even over a two week period, as their unchanged albumin and urea production reveals.
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