title: Optimal level activity of matrix metalloproteinases is critical for adult visual plasticity in the healthy and stroke-affected brain.
abstract: The ability of the adult brain to undergo plastic changes is of particular interest in medicine, especially regarding recovery from injuries or improving learning and cognition. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have been associated with juvenile experience-dependent primary visual cortex (V1) plasticity, yet little is known about their role in this process in the adult V1. Activation of MMPs is a crucial step facilitating structural changes in a healthy brain; however, upon brain injury, upregulated MMPs promote the spread of a lesion and impair recovery. To clarify these seemingly opposing outcomes of MMP-activation, we examined the effects of MMP-inhibition on experience-induced plasticity in healthy and stoke-affected adult mice. In healthy animals, 7-day application of MMP-inhibitor prevented visual plasticity. Additionally, treatment with MMP-inhibitor once but not twice following stroke rescued plasticity, normally lost under these conditions. Our data imply that an optimal level of MMP-activity is crucial for adult visual plasticity to occur.
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems Neuroscience, Bernstein Focus Neurotechnology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Justyna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pielecka-Fortuna
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems Neuroscience, Bernstein Focus Neurotechnology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.|Göttingen Graduate School for Neurosciences, Biophysics, and Molecular Biosciences, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Evgenia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kalogeraki
authors.affiliation: Institute for Neurophysiology and Cellular Biophysics, University Medical Center, Göttingen, Germany.|German Primate Center, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Michal G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Fortuna
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems Neuroscience, Bernstein Focus Neurotechnology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Siegrid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Löwel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D020782:Matrix Metalloproteinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D020521:Stroke / Q000473:pathology*; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception
chemical_list: D020782:Matrix Metalloproteinases
keywords: adult cortical plasticity; matrix metalloproteinases; mouse; neuroscience; primary visual cortex; stroke