Mitochondria-activated cisternae generate the cell specific vesicles in auditory hair cells

Spatial patterns of noise-induced inner hair cell ribbon loss in the mouse mid-cochlea

In the mammalian cochlea, moderate acoustic overexposure leads to loss of ribbon-type synapse between the inner hair cell (IHC) and its postsynaptic spiral ganglion neuron (SGN), causing a reduced dynamic range of hearing but not a permanent threshold elevation. A prevailing view is that such ribbon loss (known as synaptopathy) selectively impacts the low-spontaneous-rate and high-threshold SGN fibers contacting predominantly the modiolar IHC face. However, the spatial pattern of synaptopathy remains scarcely characterized in the most sensitive mid-cochlear region, where two morphological subtypes of IHC with distinct ribbon size gradients coexist. Here, we used volume electron microscopy to investigate noise exposure-related changes in the mouse IHCs with and without ribbon loss. Our quantifications reveal that IHC subtypes differ in the worst-hit area of synaptopathy. Moreover, we show relative enrichment of mitochondria in the surviving SGN terminals, providing key experimental evidence for the long-proposed role of SGN-terminal mitochondria in synaptic vulnerability.

Mitochondrial form and function in hair cells

Hair cells (HCs) are specialised sensory receptors residing in the neurosensory epithelia of inner ear sense organs. The precise morphological and physiological properties of HCs allow us to perceive sound and interact with the world around us. Mitochondria play a significant role in normal HC function and are also intricately involved in HC death. They generate ATP essential for sustaining the activity of ion pumps, Ca²⁺ transporters and the integrity of the stereociliary bundle during transduction as well as regulating cytosolic calcium homoeostasis during synaptic transmission. Advances in imaging techniques have allowed us to study mitochondrial populations throughout the HC, and how they interact with other organelles. These analyses have identified distinct mitochondrial populations between the apical and basolateral portions of the HC, in which mitochondrial morphology appears determined by the physiological processes in the different cellular compartments. Studies in HCs across species show that ototoxic agents, ageing and noise damage directly impact mitochondrial structure and function resulting in HC death. Deciphering the molecular mechanisms underlying this mitochondrial sensitivity, and how their morphology relates to their function during HC death, requires that we first understand this relationship in the context of normal HC function.

Structural and functional diversity of mitochondria in vestibular/cochlear hair cells and vestibular calyx afferents

Mitochondria supply energy in the form of ATP to drive a plethora of cellular processes. In heart and liver cells, mitochondria occupy over 20% of the cellular volume and the major need for ATP is easily identifiable - i.e., to drive cross-bridge recycling in cardiac cells or biosynthetic machinery in liver cells. In vestibular and cochlear hair cells the overall cellular mitochondrial volume is much less, and mitochondria structure varies dramatically in different regions of the cell. The regional demands for ATP and cellular forces that govern mitochondrial structure and localization are not well understood. Below we review our current understanding of the heterogeneity of form and function in hair cell mitochondria. A particular focus of this review will be on regional specialization in vestibular hair cells, where large mitochondria are found beneath the cuticular plate in close association with the striated organelle. Recent findings on the role of mitochondria in hair cell death and aging are covered along with potential therapeutic approaches. Potential avenues for future research are discussed, including the need for integrated computational modeling of mitochondrial function in hair cells and the vestibular afferent calyx.

Aligned Organization of Synapses and Mitochondria in Auditory Hair Cells

Recent studies have revealed great functional and structural heterogeneity in the ribbon-type synapses at the basolateral pole of the isopotential inner hair cell (IHC). This feature is believed to be critical for audition over a wide dynamic range, but whether the spatial gradient of ribbon morphology is fine-tuned in each IHC and how the mitochondrial network is organized to meet local energy demands of synaptic transmission remain unclear. By means of three-dimensional electron microscopy and artificial intelligence-based algorithms, we demonstrated the cell-wide structural quantification of ribbons and mitochondria in mature mid-cochlear IHCs of mice. We found that adjacent IHCs in staggered pairs differ substantially in cell body shape and ribbon morphology gradient as well as mitochondrial organization. Moreover, our analysis argues for a location-specific arrangement of correlated ribbon and mitochondrial function at the basolateral IHC pole.

Why study inner ear hair cell mitochondria?

In several systems of the body (muscle, liver, nerves), new studies have examined the internal structure of mitochondria and brought to light striking new findings about how mitochondria are constructed and how their structure affects cell function. In the inner ear field, however, we have little structural knowledge about hair cell and supporting cell mitochondria, and virtually none about mitochondrial subtypes or how they function in health and disease. The need for such knowledge is discussed in this short review.

Association of intracellular and synaptic organization in cochlear inner hair cells revealed by 3D electron microscopy

The ways in which cell architecture is modelled to meet cell function is a poorly understood facet of cell biology. To address this question, we have studied the cytoarchitecture of a cell with highly specialised organisation, the cochlear inner hair cell (IHC), using multiple hierarchies of three-dimensional (3D) electron microscopy analyses. We show that synaptic terminal distribution on the IHC surface correlates with cell shape, and the distribution of a highly organised network of membranes and mitochondria encompassing the infranuclear region of the cell. This network is juxtaposed to a population of small vesicles, which represents a potential new source of neurotransmitter vesicles for replenishment of the synapses. Structural linkages between organelles that underlie this organisation were identified by high-resolution imaging. Taken together, these results describe a cell-encompassing network of membranes and mitochondria present in IHCs that support efficient coding and transmission of auditory signals. Such techniques also have the potential for clarifying functionally specialised cytoarchitecture of other cell types.

Summary: 3D electron microscopy reconstructs the highly organised structure of the infranuclear region of the cochlear inner hair cell, which supports synaptic functions.

The collagen receptor DDR1 co-localizes with the non-muscle myosin IIA in mice inner ear and contributes to the cytoarchitecture and stability of motile cells

Discoidin domain receptor 1 (DDR1) is a tyrosine kinase receptor activated by native collagen. DDRs regulate cell adhesion, migration and various other cell functions. Deletion of the DDR1 gene in mice is associated with a severe decrease in auditory function and substantial structural alterations in a heterogeneous group of cells, including cells containing actin/myosin contractile elements, e.g., outer hair cells (OHCs) (Meyer zum Gottesberge et al. Lab Invest, 88: 27-37, 2008). The non-muscle myosin heavy chain isoform IIA (NM-IIA), encoded by MYH9, is implicated in the regulation of cell spreading, cellular reshaping and movement and cell migration and adhesion. In this study, we identify DDR1 and NM-IIA co-localization in the type III fibrocytes (tension fibrocytes) of the spiral ligament, the OHCs and the stereocilia of both OHCs and inner hair cells. We show for the first time that DDR1 malfunction causes OHC deformation and the separation of the lateral wall, the location of the cellular motor responsible for the electromotile property, explicitly in those regions showing DDR1 and NM-IIA co-localization. On the basis of our results, we propose that DDR1 acts in concert with proteins of the actin/myosin complex to maintain mechanical forces in the inner ear and to stabilize OHC cellular shape for proper auditory signal transduction.

A new probe for super-resolution imaging of membranes elucidates trafficking pathways

mCLING is a novel membrane probe for the study of membrane trafficking with demonstrated value in both live and fixed cells across a wide range of biological systems.

The molecular composition of the organelles involved in membrane recycling is difficult to establish as a result of the absence of suitable labeling tools. We introduce in this paper a novel probe, named membrane-binding fluorophore-cysteine-lysine-palmitoyl group (mCLING), which labels the plasma membrane and is taken up during endocytosis. It remains attached to membranes after fixation and permeabilization and can therefore be used in combination with immunostaining and super-resolution microscopy. We applied mCLING to mammalian-cultured cells, yeast, bacteria, primary cultured neurons, Drosophila melanogaster larval neuromuscular junctions, and mammalian tissue. mCLING enabled us to study the molecular composition of different trafficking organelles. We used it to address several questions related to synaptic vesicle recycling in the auditory inner hair cells from the organ of Corti and to investigate molecular differences between synaptic vesicles that recycle actively or spontaneously in cultured neurons. We conclude that mCLING enables the investigation of trafficking membranes in a broad range of preparations.

FM dye photo-oxidation as a tool for monitoring membrane recycling in inner hair cells

Styryl (FM) dyes have been used for more than two decades to investigate exo- and endocytosis in conventional synapses. However, they are difficult to use in the inner hair cells of the auditory pathway (IHCs), as FM dyes appear to penetrate through mechanotransducer channels into the cytosol of IHCs, masking endocytotic uptake. To solve this problem we applied to IHCs the FM dye photo-oxidation technique, which renders the dyes into electron microscopy markers. Photo-oxidation allowed the unambiguous identification of labeled organelles, despite the presence of FM dye in the cytosol. This enabled us to describe the morphologies of several organelles that take up membrane in IHCs, both at rest and during stimulation. At rest, endosome-like organelles were detected in the region of the cuticular plate. Larger tubulo-cisternal organelles dominated the top and nuclear regions. Finally, the basal region, where the IHC active zones are located, contained few labeled organelles. Stimulation increased significantly membrane trafficking in the basal region, inducing the appearance of labeled vesicles and cistern-like organelles. The latter were replaced by small, synaptic-like vesicles during recovery after stimulation. In contrast, no changes in membrane trafficking were induced by stimulation in the cuticular plate region or in the top and nuclear regions. We conclude that synaptic vesicle recycling takes place mostly in the basal region of the IHCs. Other organelles participate in abundant constitutive membrane trafficking throughout the rest of the IHC volume.