Myśl i polityka: księga pamiątkowa dedykowana profesorowi Jackowi Marii Majchrowskiemu T. 3

Publikacja jubileuszowa z okazji 40-lecia pracy naukowej profesora Jacka Majchrowskieg

Thin Film ZnO as Sublayer for Electric Contact for Bulk GaN with Low Electron Concentration

Fabrication of low resistivity ohmic contacts to N polarity gallium nitride crystal is an important issue for the construction of the vertical current flow devices like laser diodes and high brightness light emitting diodes. Gallium nitride is a challenging material because of the high metal work function required to form a barrier-free metal-semiconductor interface. In practice, all useful ohmic contacts to GaN are based on the tunneling effect. Efficient tunneling requires high doping of the material. The most challenging task is to fabricate high quality metal ohmic contacts on the substrate because the doping control is here much more difficult that in the case of epitaxial layers. In the present work we propose a method for fabricating low resistivity ohmic contacts on N-side of GaN wafers grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy. These crystals were characterized by a n-type conductivity and the electron concentration of the order of 10$\text{}^{17}$ cm$\text{}^{-3}$. The standard Ti/Au contact turned out to be unsatisfactory with respect to its linearity and resistance. Instead we decided to deposit high-n type ZnO layers (thickness 50 nm and 100 nm) prepared by atomic layer deposition at temperature of 200°C. The layers were highly n-type conductive with the electron concentration in the order of 10$\text{}^{20}$ cm$\text{}^{-3}$. Afterwards, the metal contact to ZnO was formed by depositing Ti and Au. The electrical characterization of such a contact showed very good linearity and as low resistance as 1.6 × 10$\text{}^{-3}$ Ω cm$\text{}^{2}$. The results indicate advantageous properties of contacts formed by the combination of the atomic layer deposition and hydride vapor phase epitaxy technology

Pairing bacteroides vulgatus LPS structure with its immunomodulatory effects on human cellular models

The gut microbiota guide the development of the host immune system by setting a systemic threshold for immune activation. Lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) from gut bacteria are able to trigger systemic and local proinflammatory and immunomodulatory responses, and this capability strongly relies on their fine structures. Up to now, only a few LPS structures from gut commensals have been elucidated; therefore, the molecular motifs that may be important for LPS-mammalian cell interactions at the gut level are still obscure. Here, we report on the full structure of the LPS isolated from one of the prominent species of the genus Bacteroides, Bacteroides vulgatus. The LPS turned out to consist of a particular chemical structure based on hypoacylated and mono-phosphorylated lipid A and with a galactofuranose-containing core oligosaccharide and an O-antigen built up of mannose and rhamnose. The evaluation of the immunological properties of this LPS on human in vitro models revealed a very interesting capability to produce anti-inflammatory cytokines and to induce a synergistic action of MD-2/TLR4- and TLR2-mediated signaling pathways

Rational chemical design of the carbohydrate in a glycoconjugate vaccine enhances IgM-to-IgG switching

Many pathogens are sheltered from host immunity by surface polysaccharides that would be ideal as vaccines except that they are too similar to host antigens to be immunogenic. The production of functional IgG is a desirable response to vaccines; because IgG is the only isotype that crosses the placenta, it is of particular importance in maternal vaccines against neonatal disease due to group B Streptococcus (GBS). Clinical studies found a substantially lower proportion of IgG—relative to IgM—among antibodies elicited by conjugates prepared with purified GBS type V capsular polysaccharide (CPS) than among those evoked by CPSs of other GBS serotypes. The epitope specificity of IgG elicited in humans by a conjugate prepared with type V CPS is for chemically desialylated type V CPS (dV CPS). We studied desialylation as a mechanism for enhancing the ability of type V CPS to induce IgM-to-IgG switching. Desialylation did not affect the structural conformation of type V CPS. Rhesus macaques, whose isotype responses to GBS conjugates match those of humans, produced functionally active IgG in response to a dV CPS–tetanus toxoid conjugate (dV-TT), and 98% of neonatal mice born to dams vaccinated with dV-TT survived lethal challenge with viable GBS. Targeted chemical engineering of a carbohydrate to create a molecule less like host self may be a rational approach for improving other glycoconjugates

The Lipid A from Vibrio fischeri Lipopolysaccharide: A UNIQUE STRUCTURE BEARING A PHOSPHOGLYCEROL MOIETY*

Vibrio fischeri, a bioluminescent marine bacterium, exists in an exclusive symbiotic relationship with the Hawaiian bobtail squid, Euprymna scolopes, whose light organ it colonizes. Previously, it has been shown that the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or free lipid A of V. fischeri can trigger morphological changes in the juvenile squid's light organ that occur upon colonization. To investigate the structural features that might be responsible for this phenomenon, the lipid A from V. fischeri ES114 LPS was isolated and characterized by multistage mass spectrometry (MSn). A microheterogeneous mixture of mono- and diphosphorylated diglucosamine disaccharides was observed with variable states of acylation ranging from tetra- to octaacylated forms. All lipid A species, however, contained a set of conserved primary acyl chains consisting of an N-linked C14:0(3-OH) at the 2-position, an unusual N-linked C14:1(3-OH) at the 2′-position, and two O-linked C12:0(3-OH) fatty acids at the 3- and 3′-positions. The fatty acids found in secondary acylation were considerably more variable, with either a C12:0 or C16:1 at the 2-position, C14:0 or C14:0(3-OH) at the 2′-position, and C12:0 or no substituent at the 3′-position. Most surprising was the presence of an unusual set of modifications at the secondary acylation site of the 3-position consisting of phosphoglycerol (GroP), lysophosphatidic acid (GroP bearing C12:0, C16:0, or C16:1), or phosphatidic acid (GroP bearing either C16:0 + C12:0 or C16:0 + C16:1). Given their unusual nature, it is possible that these features of the V. fischeri lipid A may underlie the ability of E. scolopes to recognize its symbiotic partner