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Capshaw G, Brown AD, Peña JL, Carr CE, Christensen-Dalsgaard J, Tollin DJ, Womack MC, McCullagh EA. The continued importance of comparative auditory research to modern scientific discovery. Hear Res 2023; 433:108766. [PMID: 37084504 PMCID: PMC10321136 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2023.108766] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2022] [Revised: 03/23/2023] [Accepted: 04/05/2023] [Indexed: 04/23/2023]
Abstract
A rich history of comparative research in the auditory field has afforded a synthetic view of sound information processing by ears and brains. Some organisms have proven to be powerful models for human hearing due to fundamental similarities (e.g., well-matched hearing ranges), while others feature intriguing differences (e.g., atympanic ears) that invite further study. Work across diverse "non-traditional" organisms, from small mammals to avians to amphibians and beyond, continues to propel auditory science forward, netting a variety of biomedical and technological advances along the way. In this brief review, limited primarily to tetrapod vertebrates, we discuss the continued importance of comparative studies in hearing research from the periphery to central nervous system with a focus on outstanding questions such as mechanisms for sound capture, peripheral and central processing of directional/spatial information, and non-canonical auditory processing, including efferent and hormonal effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Grace Capshaw
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
| | - Andrew D Brown
- Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - José L Peña
- Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA
| | - Catherine E Carr
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | | | - Daniel J Tollin
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA; Department of Otolaryngology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
| | - Molly C Womack
- Department of Biology, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322, USA.
| | - Elizabeth A McCullagh
- Department of Integrative Biology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA.
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2
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Li H, Staxäng K, Hodik M, Melkersson KG, Rask-Andersen M, Rask-Andersen H. Regeneration in the Auditory Organ in Cuban and African Dwarf Crocodiles (Crocodylus rhombifer and Osteolaemus tetraspis) Can We Learn From the Crocodile How to Restore Our Hearing? Front Cell Dev Biol 2022; 10:934571. [PMID: 35859896 PMCID: PMC9289536 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2022.934571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2022] [Accepted: 06/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: In several non-mammalian species, auditory receptors undergo cell renewal after damage. This has raised hope of finding new options to treat human sensorineural deafness. Uncertainty remains as to the triggering mechanisms and whether hair cells are regenerated even under normal conditions. In the present investigation, we explored the auditory organ in the crocodile to validate possible ongoing natural hair cell regeneration. Materials and Methods: Two male Cuban crocodiles (Crocodylus rhombifer) and an adult male African Dwarf crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis) were analyzed using transmission electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry using confocal microscopy. The crocodile ears were fixed in formaldehyde and glutaraldehyde and underwent micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) and 3D reconstruction. The temporal bones were drilled out and decalcified. Results: The crocodile papilla basilaris contained tall (inner) and short (outer) hair cells surrounded by a mosaic of tightly connected supporting cells coupled with gap junctions. Afferent neurons with and without ribbon synapses innervated both hair cell types. Supporting cells occasionally showed signs of trans-differentiation into hair cells. They expressed the MAFA and SOX2 transcription factors. Supporting cells contained organelles that may transfer genetic information between cells, including the efferent nerve fibers during the regeneration process. The tectorial membrane showed signs of being replenished and its architecture being sculpted by extracellular exosome-like proteolysis. Discussion: Crocodilians seem to produce new hair cells during their life span from a range of supporting cells. Imposing efferent nerve fibers may play a role in regeneration and re-innervation of the auditory receptors, possibly triggered by apoptotic signals from wasted hair cells. Intercellular signaling may be accomplished by elaborate gap junction and organelle systems, including neural emperipolesis. Crocodilians seem to restore and sculpt their tectorial membranes throughout their lives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hao Li
- Department of Surgical Sciences, Head and Neck Surgery, Section of Otolaryngology, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Karin Staxäng
- The Rudbeck TEM Laboratory, BioVis Platform, Uppsala University, Uppasala, Swedan
| | - Monika Hodik
- The Rudbeck TEM Laboratory, BioVis Platform, Uppsala University, Uppasala, Swedan
| | | | - Mathias Rask-Andersen
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Helge Rask-Andersen
- Department of Surgical Sciences, Head and Neck Surgery, Section of Otolaryngology, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden
- *Correspondence: Helge Rask-Andersen,
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3
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Levic S. SK Current, Expressed During the Development and Regeneration of Chick Hair Cells, Contributes to the Patterning of Spontaneous Action Potentials. Front Cell Neurosci 2022; 15:766264. [PMID: 35069114 PMCID: PMC8770932 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2021.766264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2021] [Accepted: 11/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Chick hair cells display calcium (Ca2+)-sensitive spontaneous action potentials during development and regeneration. The role of this activity is unclear but thought to be involved in establishing proper synaptic connections and tonotopic maps, both of which are instrumental to normal hearing. Using an electrophysiological approach, this work investigated the functional expression of Ca2+-sensitive potassium [IK(Ca)] currents and their role in spontaneous electrical activity in the developing and regenerating hair cells (HCs) in the chick basilar papilla. The main IK(Ca) in developing and regenerating chick HCs is an SK current, based on its sensitivity to apamin. Analysis of the functional expression of SK current showed that most dramatic changes occurred between E8 and E16. Specifically, there is a developmental downregulation of the SK current after E16. The SK current gating was very sensitive to the availability of intracellular Ca2+ but showed very little sensitivity to T-type voltage-gated Ca2+ channels, which are one of the hallmarks of developing and regenerating hair cells. Additionally, apamin reduced the frequency of spontaneous electrical activity in HCs, suggesting that SK current participates in patterning the spontaneous electrical activity of HCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Snezana Levic
- Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
- Sensory Neuroscience Research Group, School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Brighton, Brighton, United Kingdom
- Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
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4
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Wang Z, Wang Q, Wu H, Huang Z. Identification and characterization of amphibian SLC26A5 using RNA-Seq. BMC Genomics 2021; 22:564. [PMID: 34294052 PMCID: PMC8296623 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-021-07798-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2020] [Accepted: 06/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Prestin (SLC26A5) is responsible for acute sensitivity and frequency selectivity in the vertebrate auditory system. Limited knowledge of prestin is from experiments using site-directed mutagenesis or domain-swapping techniques after the amino acid residues were identified by comparing the sequence of prestin to those of its paralogs and orthologs. Frog prestin is the only representative in amphibian lineage and the studies of it were quite rare with only one species identified. Results Here we report a new coding sequence of SLC26A5 for a frog species, Rana catesbeiana (the American bullfrog). In our study, the SLC26A5 gene of Rana has been mapped, sequenced and cloned successively using RNA-Seq. We measured the nonlinear capacitance (NLC) of prestin both in the hair cells of Rana’s inner ear and HEK293T cells transfected with this new coding gene. HEK293T cells expressing Rana prestin showed electrophysiological features similar to that of hair cells from its inner ear. Comparative studies of zebrafish, chick, Rana and an ancient frog species showed that chick and zebrafish prestin lacked NLC. Ancient frog’s prestin was functionally different from Rana. Conclusions We mapped and sequenced the SLC26A5 of the Rana catesbeiana from its inner ear cDNA using RNA-Seq. The Rana SLC26A5 cDNA was 2292 bp long, encoding a polypeptide of 763 amino acid residues, with 40% identity to mammals. This new coding gene could encode a functionally active protein conferring NLC to both frog HCs and the mammalian cell line. While comparing to its orthologs, the amphibian prestin has been evolutionarily changing its function and becomes more advanced than avian and teleost prestin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhongying Wang
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.,Ear Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Key Laboratory of Translational Medicine on Ear and Nose Diseases, Shanghai, China
| | - Qixuan Wang
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.,Ear Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Key Laboratory of Translational Medicine on Ear and Nose Diseases, Shanghai, China
| | - Hao Wu
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China. .,Ear Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China. .,Shanghai Key Laboratory of Translational Medicine on Ear and Nose Diseases, Shanghai, China.
| | - Zhiwu Huang
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China. .,Ear Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China. .,Shanghai Key Laboratory of Translational Medicine on Ear and Nose Diseases, Shanghai, China.
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5
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McGee J, Nelson PB, Ponder JB, Marr J, Redig P, Walsh EJ. Auditory performance in bald eagles and red-tailed hawks: a comparative study of hearing in diurnal raptors. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2019; 205:793-811. [PMID: 31520117 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-019-01367-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2019] [Revised: 07/26/2019] [Accepted: 08/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Collision with wind turbines is a conservation concern for eagles with population abundance implications. The development of acoustic alerting technologies to deter eagles from entering hazardous air spaces is a potentially significant mitigation strategy to diminish associated morbidity and mortality risks. As a prelude to the engineering of deterrence technologies, auditory function was assessed in bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), as well as in red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis). Auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) to a comprehensive battery of clicks and tone bursts varying in level and frequency were acquired to evaluate response thresholds, as well as suprathreshold response characteristics of wave I of the ABR, which represents the compound potential of the VIII cranial nerve. Sensitivity curves exhibited an asymmetric convex shape similar to those of other avian species, response latencies decreased exponentially with increasing stimulus level and response amplitudes grew with level in an orderly manner. Both species were responsive to a frequency band at least four octaves wide, with a most sensitive frequency of 2 kHz, and a high-frequency limit of approximately 5.7 kHz in bald eagles and 8 kHz in red-tailed hawks. Findings reported here provide a framework within which acoustic alerting signals might be developed.
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Affiliation(s)
- JoAnn McGee
- Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences and the Center for Applied and Translational Sensory Science, University of Minnesota, 164 Pillsbury Dr. SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.
| | - Peggy B Nelson
- Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences and the Center for Applied and Translational Sensory Science, University of Minnesota, 164 Pillsbury Dr. SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA
| | - Julia B Ponder
- The Raptor Center, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA
| | - Jeffrey Marr
- St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55414, USA
| | - Patrick Redig
- The Raptor Center, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA
| | - Edward J Walsh
- Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences and the Center for Applied and Translational Sensory Science, University of Minnesota, 164 Pillsbury Dr. SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA
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6
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Kavlie RG, Fritz JL, Nies F, Göpfert MC, Oliver D, Albert JT, Eberl DF. Prestin is an anion transporter dispensable for mechanical feedback amplification in Drosophila hearing. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2014; 201:51-60. [PMID: 25412730 PMCID: PMC4282873 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-014-0960-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2014] [Revised: 10/21/2014] [Accepted: 10/25/2014] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
In mammals, the membrane-based protein Prestin confers unique electromotile properties to cochlear outer hair cells, which contribute to the cochlear amplifier. Like mammals, the ears of insects, such as those of Drosophila melanogaster, mechanically amplify sound stimuli and have also been reported to express Prestin homologs. To determine whether the D. melanogaster Prestin homolog (dpres) is required for auditory amplification, we generated and analyzed dpres mutant flies. We found that dpres is robustly expressed in the fly’s antennal ear. However, dpres mutant flies show normal auditory nerve responses, and intact non-linear amplification. Thus we conclude that, in D. melanogaster, auditory amplification is independent of Prestin. This finding resonates with prior phylogenetic analyses, which suggest that the derived motor function of mammalian Prestin replaced, or amended, an ancestral transport function. Indeed, we show that dpres encodes a functional anion transporter. Interestingly, the acquired new motor function in the phylogenetic lineage leading to birds and mammals coincides with loss of the mechanotransducer channel NompC (=TRPN1), which has been shown to be required for auditory amplification in flies. The advent of Prestin (or loss of NompC, respectively) may thus mark an evolutionary transition from a transducer-based to a Prestin-based mechanism of auditory amplification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan G Kavlie
- The Ear Institute, University College London, 332 Gray's Inn Road, London, WC1X 8EE, UK
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7
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A prestin motor in chicken auditory hair cells: active force generation in a nonmammalian species. Neuron 2013; 79:69-81. [PMID: 23746629 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2013.05.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/04/2013] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Active force generation by outer hair cells (OHCs) underlies amplification and frequency tuning in the mammalian cochlea but whether such a process exists in nonmammals is unclear. Here, we demonstrate that hair cells of the chicken auditory papilla possess an electromechanical force generator in addition to active hair bundle motion due to mechanotransducer channel gating. The properties of the force generator, its voltage dependence and susceptibility to salicylate, as well as an associated chloride-sensitive nonlinear capacitance, suggest involvement of the chicken homolog of prestin, the OHC motor protein. The presence of chicken prestin in the hair cell lateral membrane was confirmed by immunolabeling studies. The hair bundle and prestin motors together create sufficient force to produce fast lateral displacements of the tectorial membrane. Our results imply that the first use of prestin as a motor protein occurred early in amniote evolution and was not a mammalian invention as is usually supposed.
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8
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Ryals BM, Dent ML, Dooling RJ. Return of function after hair cell regeneration. Hear Res 2013; 297:113-20. [PMID: 23202051 PMCID: PMC3593961 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2012.11.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2012] [Revised: 11/09/2012] [Accepted: 11/13/2012] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The ultimate goal of hair cell regeneration is to restore functional hearing. Because birds begin perceiving and producing song early in life, they provide a propitious model for studying not only whether regeneration of lost hair cells can return auditory sensitivity but also whether this regenerated periphery can restore complex auditory perception and production. They are the only animal where hair cell regeneration occurs naturally after hair cell loss and where the ability to correctly perceive and produce complex acoustic signals is critical to procreation and survival. The purpose of this review article is to survey the most recent literature on behavioral measures of auditory functional return in adult birds after hair cell regeneration. The first portion of the review summarizes the effect of ototoxic drug induced hair cell loss and regeneration on hearing loss and recovery for pure tones. The second portion reviews studies of complex, species-specific vocalization discrimination and recognition after hair cell regeneration. Finally, we discuss the relevance of temporary hearing loss and recovery through hair cell regeneration on complex call and song production. Hearing sensitivity is restored, except for the highest frequencies, after hair cell regeneration in birds, but there are enduring changes to complex auditory perception. These changes do not appear to provide any obstacle to future auditory or vocal learning. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "Inner Ear Development and Regeneration".
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Affiliation(s)
- Brenda M. Ryals
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA 22807; phone: 540-568-7930; fax: 540-568-8077
| | - Micheal L. Dent
- Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo-SUNY, Buffalo, NY 14260; phone: 716-645-0266; fax: 716-645-3801
| | - Robert J. Dooling
- Department of Psychology and Center for the Comparative Evolutionary Biology of Hearing, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742; phone: 301-405-5925
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9
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Tang J, Pecka JL, Fritzsch B, Beisel KW, He DZZ. Lizard and frog prestin: evolutionary insight into functional changes. PLoS One 2013; 8:e54388. [PMID: 23342145 PMCID: PMC3546999 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0054388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2012] [Accepted: 12/11/2012] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
The plasma membrane of mammalian cochlear outer hair cells contains prestin, a unique motor protein. Prestin is the fifth member of the solute carrier protein 26A family. Orthologs of prestin are also found in the ear of non-mammalian vertebrates such as zebrafish and chicken. However, these orthologs are electrogenic anion exchangers/transporters with no motor function. Amphibian and reptilian lineages represent phylogenic branches in the evolution of tetrapods and subsequent amniotes. Comparison of the peptide sequences and functional properties of these prestin orthologs offer new insights into prestin evolution. With the recent availability of the lizard and frog genome sequences, we examined amino acid sequence and function of lizard and frog prestins to determine how they are functionally and structurally different from prestins of mammals and other non-mammals. Somatic motility, voltage-dependent nonlinear capacitance (NLC), the two hallmarks of prestin function, and transport capability were measured in transfected human embryonic kidney cells using voltage-clamp and radioisotope techniques. We demonstrated that while the transport capability of lizard and frog prestin was compatible to that of chicken prestin, the NLC of lizard prestin was more robust than that of chicken’s and was close to that of platypus. However, unlike platypus prestin which has acquired motor capability, lizard or frog prestin did not demonstrate motor capability. Lizard and frog prestins do not possess the same 11-amino-acid motif that is likely the structural adaptation for motor function in mammals. Thus, lizard and frog prestins appear to be functionally more advanced than that of chicken prestin, although motor capability is not yet acquired.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie Tang
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, Nebraska, United States of America
- Department of Physiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jason L. Pecka
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, Nebraska, United States of America
| | - Bernd Fritzsch
- Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, United States of America
| | - Kirk W. Beisel
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, Nebraska, United States of America
- * E-mail: (KWB); (DZH)
| | - David Z. Z. He
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, Nebraska, United States of America
- * E-mail: (KWB); (DZH)
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10
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Tan X, Pecka JL, Tang J, Lovas S, Beisel KW, He DZZ. A motif of eleven amino acids is a structural adaptation that facilitates motor capability of eutherian prestin. J Cell Sci 2012; 125:1039-47. [PMID: 22399806 PMCID: PMC3311934 DOI: 10.1242/jcs.097337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/26/2011] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Cochlear outer hair cells (OHCs) alter their length in response to transmembrane voltage changes. This so-called electromotility is the result of conformational changes of membrane-bound prestin. Prestin-based OHC motility is thought to be responsible for cochlear amplification, which contributes to the exquisite frequency selectivity and sensitivity of mammalian hearing. Prestin belongs to an anion transporter family, the solute carrier protein 26A (SLC26A). Prestin is unique in this family in that it functions as a voltage-dependent motor protein manifested by two hallmarks, nonlinear capacitance and motility. Evidence suggests that prestin orthologs from zebrafish and chicken are anion exchangers or transporters with no motor function. We identified a segment of 11 amino acid residues in eutherian prestin that is extremely conserved among eutherian species but highly variable among non-mammalian orthologs and SLC26A paralogs. To determine whether this sequence represents a motif that facilitates motor function in eutherian prestin, we utilized a chimeric approach by swapping corresponding residues from the zebrafish and chicken with those of gerbil. Motility and nonlinear capacitance were measured from chimeric prestin-transfected human embryonic kidney 293 cells using a voltage-clamp technique and photodiode-based displacement measurement system. We observed a gain of motor function with both of the hallmarks in the chimeric prestin without loss of transport function. Our results show, for the first time, that the substitution of a span of 11 amino acid residues confers the electrogenic anion transporters of zebrafish and chicken prestins with motor-like function. Thus, this motif represents the structural adaptation that assists gain of motor function in eutherian prestin.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jason L. Pecka
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Creighton University School of Medicine, 2500 California Plaza, Omaha, Nebraska, 68178, USA
| | - Jie Tang
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Creighton University School of Medicine, 2500 California Plaza, Omaha, Nebraska, 68178, USA
| | - Sándor Lovas
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Creighton University School of Medicine, 2500 California Plaza, Omaha, Nebraska, 68178, USA
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11
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Membrane thickness sensitivity of prestin orthologs: the evolution of a piezoelectric protein. Biophys J 2011; 100:2614-22. [PMID: 21641306 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2011.04.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2011] [Revised: 04/08/2011] [Accepted: 04/14/2011] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
How proteins evolve new functionality is an important question in biology; prestin (SLC26A5) is a case in point. Prestin drives outer hair cell somatic motility and amplifies mechanical vibrations in the mammalian cochlea. The motility of mammalian prestin is analogous to piezoelectricity, in which charge transfer is coupled to changes in membrane area occupied by the protein. Intriguingly, nonmammalian prestin orthologs function as anion exchangers but are apparently nonmotile. We previously found that mammalian prestin is sensitive to membrane thickness, suggesting that prestin's extended conformation has a thinner hydrophobic height in the lipid bilayer. Because prestin-based motility is a mammalian specialization, we initially hypothesized that nonmotile prestin orthologs, while functioning as anion transporters, should be much less sensitive to membrane thickness. We found the exact opposite to be true. Chicken prestin was the most sensitive to thickness changes, displaying the largest shift in voltage dependence. Platypus prestin displayed an intermediate response to membrane thickness and gerbil prestin was the least sensitive. To explain these observations, we present a theory where force production, rather than displacement, was selected for the evolution of prestin as a piezoelectric membrane motor.
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12
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Köppl C. Birds – same thing, but different? Convergent evolution in the avian and mammalian auditory systems provides informative comparative models. Hear Res 2011; 273:65-71. [DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2010.03.095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2010] [Revised: 02/26/2010] [Accepted: 03/01/2010] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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13
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Bergevin C, Velenovsky DS, Bonine KE. Tectorial membrane morphological variation: effects upon stimulus frequency otoacoustic emissions. Biophys J 2010; 99:1064-72. [PMID: 20712989 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2010.06.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2010] [Revised: 05/21/2010] [Accepted: 06/04/2010] [Indexed: 10/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The tectorial membrane (TM) is widely believed to play an important role in determining the ear's ability to detect and resolve incoming acoustic information. While it is still unclear precisely what that role is, the TM has been hypothesized to help overcome viscous forces and thereby sharpen mechanical tuning of the sensory cells. Lizards present a unique opportunity to further study the role of the TM given the diverse inner-ear morphological differences across species. Furthermore, stimulus-frequency otoacoustic emissions (SFOAEs), sounds emitted by the ear in response to a tone, noninvasively probe the frequency selectivity of the ear. We report estimates of auditory tuning derived from SFOAEs for 12 different species of lizards with widely varying TM morphology. Despite gross anatomical differences across the species examined herein, low-level SFOAEs were readily measurable in all ears tested, even in non-TM species whose basilar papilla contained as few as 50-60 hair cells. Our measurements generally support theoretical predictions: longer delays/sharper tuning features are found in species with a TM relative to those without. However, SFOAEs from at least one non-TM species (Anolis) with long delays suggest there are likely additional micromechanical factors at play that can directly affect tuning. Additionally, in the one species examined with a continuous TM (Aspidoscelis) where cell-to-cell coupling is presumably relatively stronger, delays were intermediate. This observation appears consistent with recent reports that suggest the TM may play a more complex macromechanical role in the mammalian cochlea via longitudinal energy distribution (and thereby affect tuning). Although significant differences exist between reptilian and mammalian auditory biophysics, understanding lizard OAE generation mechanisms yields significant insight into fundamental principles at work in all vertebrate ears.
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14
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Homma K, Dallos P. Evidence that prestin has at least two voltage-dependent steps. J Biol Chem 2010; 286:2297-307. [PMID: 21071769 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m110.185694] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Prestin is a voltage-dependent membrane-spanning motor protein that confers electromotility on mammalian cochlear outer hair cells, which is essential for normal hearing of mammals. Voltage-induced charge movement in the prestin molecule is converted into mechanical work; however, little is known about the molecular mechanism of this process. For understanding the electromechanical coupling mechanism of prestin, we simultaneously measured voltage-dependent charge movement and electromotility under conditions in which the magnitudes of both charge movement and electromotility are gradually manipulated by the prestin inhibitor, salicylate. We show that the observed relationships of the charge movement and the physical displacement (q-d relations) are well represented by a three-state Boltzmann model but not by a two-state model or its previously proposed variant. Here, we suggest a molecular mechanism of prestin with at least two voltage-dependent conformational transition steps having distinct electromechanical coupling efficiencies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kazuaki Homma
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, The Hugh Knowles Center, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.
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Tan X, Pecka JL, Tang J, Okoruwa OE, Zhang Q, Beisel KW, He DZZ. From zebrafish to mammal: functional evolution of prestin, the motor protein of cochlear outer hair cells. J Neurophysiol 2010; 105:36-44. [PMID: 21047933 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00234.2010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Prestin is the motor protein of cochlear outer hair cells. It belongs to a distinct anion transporter family called solute carrier protein 26A, or SLC26A. Members of this family serve two fundamentally distinct functions. Although most members transport different anion substrates across a variety of epithelia, prestin (SLC26A5) is unique, functioning as a voltage-dependent motor protein. Recent evidence suggests that prestin orthologs from zebrafish and chicken are electrogenic divalent/chloride anion exchangers/transporters with no motor function. These studies appear to suggest that prestin was evolved from an anion transporter. We examined the motor and transport functions of prestin and its orthologs from four different species in the vertebrate lineage, to gain insights of how these two physiological functions became distinct. Somatic motility, voltage-dependent nonlinear capacitance (NLC), and transporter function were measured in transfected human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells using voltage-clamp and anion uptake techniques. Zebrafish and chicken prestins both exhibited weak NLC, with peaks significantly shifted in the depolarization (right) direction. This was contrasted by robust NLC with peaks left shifted in the platypus and gerbil. The platypus and gerbil prestins retained little transporter function compared with robust anion transport capacities in the zebrafish and chicken orthologs. Somatic motility was detected only in the platypus and gerbil prestins. There appears to be an inverse relationship between NLC and anion transport functions, whereas motor function appears to have emerged only in mammalian prestin. Our results suggest that motor function is an innovation of therian prestin and is concurrent with diminished transporter capabilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaodong Tan
- Creighton University School of Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences, 2500 California Plaza, Omaha, NE 68178, USA
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16
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Bai JP, Surguchev A, Bian S, Song L, Santos-Sacchi J, Navaratnam D. Combinatorial cysteine mutagenesis reveals a critical intramonomer role for cysteines in prestin voltage sensing. Biophys J 2010; 99:85-94. [PMID: 20655836 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2010.03.066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2009] [Revised: 02/28/2010] [Accepted: 03/19/2010] [Indexed: 10/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Prestin is a member of the SLC26 family of anion transporters and is responsible for electromotility in outer hair cells, the basis of cochlear amplification in mammals. It is an anion transporting transmembrane protein, possessing nine cysteine residues, which generates voltage-dependent charge movement. We determine the role these cysteine residues play in the voltage sensing capabilities of prestin. Mutations of any single cysteine residue had little or no effect on charge movement. However, using combinatorial substitution mutants, we identified a cysteine residue pair (C415 and either C192 or C196) whose mutation reduced or eliminated charge movement. Furthermore, we show biochemically that surface expression of mutants with markedly reduced functionality can be near normal; however, we identify two monomers of the protein on the surface of the cell, the larger of which correlates with surface charge movement. Because we showed previously by Förster resonance energy transfer that monomer interactions are required for charge movement, we tested whether disulfide interactions were required for dimerization. Using Western blots to detect oligomerization of the protein in which variable numbers of cysteines up to and including all nine cysteine residues were mutated, we show that disulfide bond formation is not essential for dimer formation. Taken together, we believe these data indicate that intramembranous cysteines are constrained, possibly via disulfide bond formation, to ensure structural features of prestin required for normal voltage sensing and mechanical activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun-Ping Bai
- Department of Neurology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
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17
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Abstract
This composite article is intended to give the experts in the field of cochlear mechanics an opportunity to voice their personal opinion on the one mechanism they believe dominates cochlear amplification in mammals. A collection of these ideas are presented here for the auditory community and others interested in the cochlear amplifier. Each expert has given their own personal view on the topic and at the end of their commentary they have suggested several experiments that would be required for the decisive mechanism underlying the cochlear amplifier. These experiments are presently lacking but if successfully performed would have an enormous impact on our understanding of the cochlear amplifier.
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18
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Somatic motility and hair bundle mechanics, are both necessary for cochlear amplification? Hear Res 2010; 273:109-22. [PMID: 20430075 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2010.03.094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2010] [Revised: 03/02/2010] [Accepted: 03/08/2010] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Hearing organs have evolved to detect sounds across several orders of magnitude of both intensity and frequency. Detection limits are at the atomic level despite the energy associated with sound being limited thermodynamically. Several mechanisms have evolved to account for the remarkable frequency selectivity, dynamic range, and sensitivity of these various hearing organs, together termed the active process or cochlear amplifier. Similarities between hearing organs of disparate species provides insight into the factors driving the development of the cochlear amplifier. These properties include: a tonotopic map, the emergence of a two hair cell system, the separation of efferent and afferent innervations, the role of the tectorial membrane, and the shift from intrinsic tuning and amplification to a more end organ driven process. Two major contributors to the active process are hair bundle mechanics and outer hair cell electromotility, the former present in all hair cell organs tested, the latter only present in mammalian cochlear outer hair cells. Both of these processes have advantages and disadvantages, and how these processes interact to generate the active process in the mammalian system is highly disputed. A hypothesis is put forth suggesting that hair bundle mechanics provides amplification and filtering in most hair cells, while in mammalian cochlea, outer hair cell motility provides the amplification on a cycle by cycle basis driven by the hair bundle that provides frequency selectivity (in concert with the tectorial membrane) and compressive nonlinearity. Separating components of the active process may provide additional sites for regulation of this process.
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Abstract
Sensory hair cells are the essential mechanotransducers of the inner ear, responsible not only for the transduction of sound and motion stimuli but also, remarkably, for nanomechanical amplification of sensory stimuli. Here we show that semicircular canal hair cells generate a mechanical nonlinearity in vivo that increases sensitivity to angular motion by amplification at low stimulus strengths. Sensitivity at high stimulus strengths is linear and shows no evidence of amplification. Results suggest that the mechanical work done by hair cells contributes approximately 97 zJ/cell of amplification per stimulus cycle, improving sensitivity to angular velocity stimuli below approximately 5 degrees /s (0.3-Hz sinusoidal motion). We further show that mechanical amplification can be inhibited by the brain via activation of efferent synaptic contacts on hair cells. The experimental model was the oyster toadfish, Opsanus tau. Physiological manifestation of mechanical amplification and efferent control in a teleost vestibular organ suggests the active motor process in sensory hair cells is ancestral. The biophysical basis of the motor(s) remains hypothetical, but a key discriminating question may involve how changes in somatic electrical impedance evoked by efferent synaptic action alter function of the motor(s).
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20
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Okoruwa OE, Weston MD, Sanjeevi DC, Millemon AR, Fritzsch B, Hallworth R, Beisel KW. Evolutionary insights into the unique electromotility motor of mammalian outer hair cells. Evol Dev 2008; 10:300-15. [PMID: 18460092 DOI: 10.1111/j.1525-142x.2008.00239.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Prestin (SLC26A5) is the molecular motor responsible for cochlear amplification by mammalian cochlea outer hair cells and has the unique combined properties of energy-independent motility, voltage sensitivity, and speed of cellular shape change. The ion transporter capability, typical of SLC26A members, was exchanged for electromotility function and is a newly derived feature of the therian cochlea. A putative minimal essential motif for the electromotility motor (meEM) was identified through the amalgamation of comparative genomic, evolution, and structural diversification approaches. Comparisons were done among nonmammalian vertebrates, eutherian mammalian species, and the opossum and platypus. The opossum and platypus SLC26A5 proteins were comparable to the eutherian consensus sequence. Suggested from the point-accepted mutation analysis, the meEM motif spans all the transmembrane segments and represented residues 66-503. Within the eutherian clade, the meEM was highly conserved with a substitution frequency of only 39/7497 (0.5%) residues, compared with 5.7% in SLC26A4 and 12.8% in SLC26A6 genes. Clade-specific substitutions were not observed and there was no sequence correlation with low or high hearing frequency specialists. We were able to identify that within the highly conserved meEM motif two regions, which are unique to all therian species, appear to be the most derived features in the SLC26A5 peptide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oseremen E Okoruwa
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, NE 68178, USA
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21
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Theoretical conditions for high-frequency hair bundle oscillations in auditory hair cells. Biophys J 2008; 95:4948-62. [PMID: 18676646 DOI: 10.1529/biophysj.108.138560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Substantial evidence exists for spontaneous oscillations of hair cell stereociliary bundles in the lower vertebrate inner ear. Since the oscillations are larger than expected from Brownian motion, they must result from an active process in the stereociliary bundle suggested to underlie amplification of the sensory input as well as spontaneous otoacoustic emissions. However, their low frequency (<100 Hz) makes them unsuitable for amplification in birds and mammals that hear up to 5 kHz or higher. To examine the possibility of high-frequency oscillations, we used a finite-element model of the outer hair cell bundle incorporating previously measured mechanical parameters. Bundle motion was assumed to activate mechanotransducer channels according to the gating spring hypothesis, and the channels were regulated adaptively by Ca(2+) binding. The model generated oscillations of freestanding bundles at 4 kHz whose sharpness of tuning depended on the mechanotransducer channel number and location, and the Ca(2+) concentration. Entrainment of the oscillations by external stimuli was used to demonstrate nonlinear amplification. The oscillation frequency depended on channel parameters and was increased to 23 kHz principally by accelerating Ca(2+) binding kinetics. Spontaneous oscillations persisted, becoming very narrow-band, when the hair bundle was loaded with a tectorial membrane mass.
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22
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Bergevin C, Freeman DM, Saunders JC, Shera CA. Otoacoustic emissions in humans, birds, lizards, and frogs: evidence for multiple generation mechanisms. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2008; 194:665-83. [PMID: 18500528 PMCID: PMC2562659 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-008-0338-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2008] [Revised: 04/18/2008] [Accepted: 04/19/2008] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Many non-mammalian ears lack physiological features considered integral to the generation of otoacoustic emissions in mammals, including basilar-membrane traveling waves and hair-cell somatic motility. To help elucidate the mechanisms of emission generation, this study systematically measured and compared evoked emissions in all four classes of tetrapod vertebrates using identical stimulus paradigms. Overall emission levels are largest in the lizard and frog species studied and smallest in the chicken. Emission levels in humans, the only examined species with somatic hair cell motility, were intermediate. Both geckos and frogs exhibit substantially higher levels of high-order intermodulation distortion. Stimulus frequency emission phase-gradient delays are longest in humans but are at least 1 ms in all species. Comparisons between stimulus-frequency emission and distortion-product emission phase gradients for low stimulus levels indicate that representatives from all classes except frog show evidence for two distinct generation mechanisms analogous to the reflection- and distortion-source (i.e., place- and wave-fixed) mechanisms evident in mammals. Despite morphological differences, the results suggest the role of a scaling-symmetric traveling wave in chicken emission generation, similar to that in mammals, and perhaps some analog in the gecko.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Bergevin
- Harvard-Massachusetts Institute of Technology Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
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23
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Farahbakhsh NA, Narins PM. Slow motility in hair cells of the frog amphibian papilla: myosin light chain-mediated shape change. Hear Res 2008; 241:7-17. [PMID: 18534795 PMCID: PMC2516351 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2008.04.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2007] [Revised: 04/10/2008] [Accepted: 04/14/2008] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Using video, fluorescence and confocal microscopy, quantitative analysis and modeling, we investigated intracellular processes mediating the calcium/calmodulin (Ca(2+)/CaM)-dependent slow motility in hair cells dissociated from the rostral region of amphibian papilla, one of the two auditory organs in frogs. The time course of shape changes in these hair cells during the period of pretreatment with several specific inhibitors, as well as their response to the calcium ionophore, ionomycin, were recorded and compared. These cells respond to ionomycin with a tri-phasic shape change: an initial phase of iso-volumetric length decrease; a period of concurrent shortening and swelling; and the final phase of increase in both length and volume. We found that both the myosin light chain kinase inhibitor, ML-7, and antagonists of the multifunctional Ca(2+)/CaM-dependent kinases, KN-62 and KN-93, inhibit the iso-volumetric shortening phase of the response to ionomycin. The type 1 protein phosphatase inhibitors, calyculin A and okadaic acid induce minor shortening on their own, but do not significantly alter phase 1 response. However, they appear to counter effects of the inhibitors of Ca(2+)/CaM-dependent kinases. We hypothesize that an active actomyosin-based process mediates the iso-volumetric shortening in the frog rostral amphibian papillar hair cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nasser A Farahbakhsh
- Department of Physiological Science, 621 Charles E. Young Drive S., University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA.
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24
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The structural and functional differentiation of hair cells in a lizard's basilar papilla suggests an operational principle of amniote cochleas. J Neurosci 2007; 27:11978-85. [PMID: 17978038 PMCID: PMC2151837 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.3679-07.2007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The hair cells in the mammalian cochlea are of two distinct types. Inner hair cells are responsible for transducing mechanical stimuli into electrical responses, which they forward to the brain through a copious afferent innervation. Outer hair cells, which are thought to mediate the active process that sensitizes and tunes the cochlea, possess a negligible afferent innervation. For every inner hair cell, there are approximately three outer hair cells, so only one-quarter of the hair cells directly deliver information to the CNS. Although this is a surprising feature for a sensory system, the occurrence of a similar innervation pattern in birds and crocodilians suggests that the arrangement has an adaptive value. Using a lizard with highly developed hearing, the tokay gecko, we demonstrate in the present study that the same principle operates in a third major group of terrestrial animals. We propose that the differentiation of hair cells into signaling and amplifying classes reflects incompatible strategies for the optimization of mechanoelectrical transduction and of an active process based on active hair-bundle motility.
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25
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Albert JT, Winter H, Schaechinger TJ, Weber T, Wang X, He DZZ, Hendrich O, Geisler HS, Zimmermann U, Oelmann K, Knipper M, Göpfert MC, Oliver D. Voltage-sensitive prestin orthologue expressed in zebrafish hair cells. J Physiol 2007; 580:451-61. [PMID: 17272340 PMCID: PMC2075545 DOI: 10.1113/jphysiol.2007.127993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Prestin, a member of the solute carrier (SLC) family SLC26A, is the molecular motor that drives the somatic electromotility of mammalian outer hair cells (OHCs). Its closest reported homologue, zebrafish prestin (zprestin), shares approximately 70% strong amino acid sequence similarity with mammalian prestin, predicting an almost identical protein structure. Immunohistochemical analysis now shows that zprestin is expressed in hair cells of the zebrafish ear. Similar to mammalian prestin, heterologously expressed zprestin is found to generate voltage-dependent charge movements, giving rise to a non-linear capacitance (NLC) of the cell membrane. Compared with mammalian prestin, charge movements mediated by zprestin display a weaker voltage dependence and slower kinetics; they occur at more positive membrane voltages, and are not associated with electromotile responses. Given this functional dissociation of NLC and electromotility and the structural similarity with mammalian prestin, we anticipate that zprestin provides a valuable tool for tracing the molecular and evolutionary bases of prestin motor function.
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26
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Abstract
Cochlear hair cells respond with phenomenal speed and sensitivity to sound vibrations that cause submicron deflections of their hair bundle. Outer hair cells are not only detectors, but also generate force to augment auditory sensitivity and frequency selectivity. Two mechanisms of force production have been proposed: contractions of the cell body or active motion of the hair bundle. Here, we describe recently identified proteins involved in the sensory and motor functions of auditory hair cells and present evidence for each force generator. Both motor mechanisms are probably needed to provide the high sensitivity and frequency discrimination of the mammalian cochlea.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Fettiplace
- Department of Physiology, University of Wisconsin Medical School, 185 Medical Sciences Building, 1300 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.
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27
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Farahbakhsh NA, Narins PM. Slow motility in hair cells of the frog amphibian papilla: Ca2+-dependent shape changes. Hear Res 2006; 212:140-59. [PMID: 16426781 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2005.11.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2005] [Accepted: 11/23/2005] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
We investigated the process of slow motility in non-mammalian auditory hair cells by recording the time course of shape change in hair cells of the frog amphibian papilla. The tall hair cells in the rostral segment of this organ, reported to be the sole recipients of efferent innervation, were found to shorten in response to an increase in the concentration of the intracellular free calcium. These shortenings are composed of two partially-overlapping phases: an initial rapid iso-volumetric contraction, followed by a slower length decrease accompanied with swelling. It is possible to unmask the iso-volumetric contraction by delaying the cell swelling with the help of K+ or Cl- channel inhibitors, quinine or furosemide. Furthermore, it appears that the longitudinal contraction in these cells is Ca2+-calmodulin-dependent: in the presence of W-7, a calmodulin inhibitor, only a slow, swelling phase could be observed. These findings suggest that amphibian rostral AP hair cells resemble their mammalian counterparts in expressing both a Ca2+-calmodulin-dependent contractile structure and an "osmotic" mechanism capable of mediating length change in response to extracellular stimuli. Such a mechanism might be utilized by the efferent neurotransmitters for adaptive modulation of mechano-electrical transduction, sensitivity enhancement, frequency selectivity, and protection against over-stimulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nasser A Farahbakhsh
- Department of Physiological Science, 621 Charles E. Young Drive S. University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA.
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28
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Manley GA. Spontaneous otoacoustic emissions from free-standing stereovillar bundles of ten species of lizard with small papillae. Hear Res 2006; 212:33-47. [PMID: 16307854 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2005.10.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2005] [Accepted: 10/06/2005] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAE) were measured in 10 lizard species from the families Iguanidae, Agamidae and Anguidae. The typical feature of these papillae is that the hair cells in the higher-frequency papillar regions that produce SOAE are not covered by a tectorial structure. The number of hair cells in the species used here was between 58 and 292 per ear. SOAE could be measured from all species, but some of their characteristics varied with papillar anatomy. Thus very small papillae produced fewer and smaller SOAE than larger papillae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Geoffrey A Manley
- Lehrstuhl für Zoologie, Technische Universität München, Lichtenbergstrasse 4, 85747 Garching, Germany.
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29
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Jia S, He DZZ. Motility-associated hair-bundle motion in mammalian outer hair cells. Nat Neurosci 2005; 8:1028-34. [PMID: 16041370 DOI: 10.1038/nn1509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2005] [Accepted: 06/28/2005] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Mammalian hearing owes its remarkable sensitivity and frequency selectivity to a local mechanical feedback process within the cochlea. Cochlear outer hair cells (OHCs) function as the key elements in the feedback loop in which the fast somatic motility of OHCs is thought to be the source of cochlear amplification. An alternative view is that amplification arises from active hair-bundle movement, similar to that seen in nonmammalian hair cells. We measured voltage-evoked hair-bundle motions in the gerbil cochlea to determine if such movements were also present in mammalian OHCs. The OHCs showed bundle movement with peak responses of up to 830 nm. The movement was insensitive to manipulations that would normally block mechanotransduction in the stereocilia, and it was absent in neonatal OHCs and prestin-knockout OHCs. These findings suggest that the bundle movement originated in somatic motility and that somatic motility has a central role in cochlear amplification in mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuping Jia
- Hair Cell Biophysics Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Creighton University School of Medicine, 2500 California Plaza, Omaha, Nebraska 68175, USA
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30
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Lichtenhan JT, Chertoff ME, Smittkamp SE, Durham D, Girod DA. Predicting severity of cochlear hair cell damage in adult chickens using DPOAE input-output functions. Hear Res 2005; 201:109-20. [PMID: 15721566 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2004.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2004] [Accepted: 09/06/2004] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) were recorded from the ear canal of aged broiler chickens which have been shown to present with age-related cochlear degeneration [Hear. Res. 166 (2002) 82]. We describe the relationship between the shape of the DPOAE input-output (I/O) function and the type of hair cell damage present at and between the cochlear frequency places of the DPOAE primary tones (f1 and f2). The mid stimulus level compressive growth of the mean DPOAE I/O functions is reduced in a graded fashion relative to the severity of hair cell damage. However, individual DPOAE I/O functions within most hair cell damage groups show large variability from this characteristic. Various least squares regression models were used to predict hair cell density from indices derived from the DPOAE I/O function (area, threshold and slope). The results showed that no simple linear relationship exists between hair cell density and the DPOAE I/O function indices. Multivariate binary logistic regression used DPOAE I/O function indices to predict membership in hair cell damage groups. The logistic model revealed that DPOAE threshold can be used to predict the occurrence of severe/total hair cell damage with good specificity though poor sensitivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffery T Lichtenhan
- Department of Hearing and Speech, University of Kansas Medical Center, 3901 Rainbow Blvd., Kansas City, KS 66160, USA
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31
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Manley GA, Kirk DL. BAPTA Induces Frequency Shifts in vivo of Spontaneous Otoacoustic Emissions of the Bobtail Lizard. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2005; 10:248-57. [PMID: 15925861 DOI: 10.1159/000085999] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2004] [Accepted: 01/25/2005] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAEs) are indicators of active processes in the inner ear and are found in all classes of land vertebrates. In the Australian bobtail lizard, earlier work showed that otoacoustic emissions are generated by an active motility process in the hair-cell bundle. This is likely to be driven by calcium-sensitive mechanisms implicated in other non-mammalian hair cell systems. If so, it should be fundamentally influenced by the extracellular calcium concentration. In in vitro studies, the rate of force generation in hair cell stereovilli is linked to the extracellular calcium concentration. In such preparations, low-calcium solutions, buffered by the calcium chelator BAPTA, were reported to change the frequency of hair cell bundle oscillations. In the present study, BAPTA was iontophoresed into the endolymph of the bobtail skink in vivo, and SOAEs were monitored. Application of BAPTA resulted in a prolonged downward shift in the frequency of individual SOAE spectral peaks. Recovery took more than 1 h, consistent with a slow clearance of BAPTA from endolymph. SOAE peak amplitudes were most often enhanced, suggesting there was no functional disruption of tip links. The direction and degree of frequency shifts were consistent with in vitro and in vivo data showing the effects of changing calcium concentrations in the endolymph directly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Geoffrey A Manley
- The Auditory Laboratory, Department of Physiology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia.
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32
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Köppl C, Forge A, Manley GA. Low density of membrane particles in auditory hair cells of lizards and birds suggests an absence of somatic motility. J Comp Neurol 2004; 479:149-55. [PMID: 15452826 DOI: 10.1002/cne.20311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Hair cells are the mechanoreceptive cells of the vertebrate lateral line and inner ear. In addition to their sensory function, hair cells display motility and thus themselves generate mechanical energy, which is thought to enhance sensitivity. Two principal cellular mechanism are known that can mediate hair-cell motility in vitro. One of these is based on voltage-dependent changes of an intramembrane protein and has so far been demonstrated only in outer hair cells of the mammalian cochlea. Correlated with this, the cell membranes of outer hair cells carry an extreme density of embedded particles, as revealed by freeze fracturing. The present study explored the possibility of membrane-based motility in hair cells of nonmammals, by determining their density of intramembrane particles. Replicas of freeze-fractured membrane were prepared from auditory hair cells of a lizard, the Tokay gecko, and a bird, the barn owl. These species were chosen because of independent evidence for active cochlear mechanics, in the form of spontaneous otoacoustic emissions. For quantitative comparison, mammalian inner and outer hair cells, as well as vestibular hair, cells were reevaluated. Lizard and bird hair cells displayed median densities of 2,360 and 1,880 intramembrane particles/microm2, respectively. This was not significantly different from the densities in vestibular and mammalian inner hair cells; however, it was about half the density in of mammalian outer hair cells. This suggests that nonmammalian hair cells do not possess high densities of motor protein in their membranes and are thus unlikely to be capable of somatic motility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine Köppl
- Lehrstuhl für Zoologie, Technische Universität München, 85747 Garching, Germany.
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33
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Sokolowski BHA, Sakai Y, Harvey MC, Duzhyy DE. Identification and localization of an arachidonic acid-sensitive potassium channel in the cochlea. J Neurosci 2004; 24:6265-76. [PMID: 15254081 PMCID: PMC6729546 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1291-04.2004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Receptor cells of the auditory and vestibular end organs of vertebrates acquire various types of potassium channels during development. Their expression and kinetics can differ along the tonotopic axis as well as in different cell types of the sensory epithelium. These variations can play a crucial role in modulating sensory transduction and cochlear tuning. Whole-cell tight-seal recordings of isolated hair cells revealed the presence of an arachidonic acid-sensitive A-type channel in the short (outer) hair cells of the chicken cochlea. This polyunsaturated fatty acid blocked the A-current, thereby increasing the amplitude and duration of the voltage response in these cells. We identified the gene encoding this channel as belonging to a member of the Shal subfamily, Kv4.2. Expression of the recombinant channel shows half-activation and inactivation potentials shifted to more positive values relative to native channels, suggesting that the native channel is coexpressed with an accessory subunit. RT-PCR revealed that transcription begins early in development, whereas in situ hybridization showed mRNA expression limited to the intermediate and short hair cells located in specific regions of the adult cochlea. Additional localization, using immunofluorescent staining, revealed clustering in apical-lateral regions of the receptor cell as well as in the cochlear ganglion. These experiments provide evidence that in addition to membrane proteins modulating excitation in these receptor cells, fatty acids contribute to the coding of auditory stimuli via these channels.
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MESH Headings
- 5,8,11,14-Eicosatetraynoic Acid/pharmacology
- Amino Acid Sequence
- Animals
- Arachidonic Acid/pharmacology
- Base Sequence
- CHO Cells
- Chick Embryo
- Chickens
- Cochlea/embryology
- Cochlea/growth & development
- Cricetinae
- Cricetulus
- DNA, Complementary/genetics
- Gene Library
- Hair Cells, Auditory, Outer/chemistry
- Hair Cells, Auditory, Outer/embryology
- In Situ Hybridization
- Ion Channel Gating/drug effects
- Molecular Sequence Data
- Multigene Family
- Patch-Clamp Techniques
- Potassium Channels, Voltage-Gated/drug effects
- Potassium Channels, Voltage-Gated/genetics
- Potassium Channels, Voltage-Gated/isolation & purification
- RNA, Messenger/analysis
- Recombinant Fusion Proteins/physiology
- Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
- Transfection
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernd H A Sokolowski
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33612, USA.
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Meenderink SWF, van Dijk P. Level dependence of distortion product otoacoustic emissions in the leopard frog, Rana pipiens pipiens. Hear Res 2004; 192:107-18. [PMID: 15157969 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2004.01.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2003] [Accepted: 01/01/2004] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The inner ear of frogs holds two papillae specialized in detecting airborne sound, the amphibian papilla (AP) and the basilar papilla (BP). We measured input-output (I/O) curves of distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) from both papillae, and compared their properties. As in other vertebrates, DPOAE I/O curves showed two distinct segments, separated by a notch or kneepoint. The slope of the low-level segment was conspicuously different between the AP and the BP. For DPOAE I/O curves from the AP, slopes were < or = 1 dB/dB, similar to what is found in mammals, birds and some lizards. For DPOAE I/O curves from the BP these slopes were much steeper (approximately 2 dB/dB). Slopes found at high stimulus levels were similar in the AP and the BP (approximately 2 dB/dB). This quantitative difference between the low-level slopes for DPOAEs from the AP and the BP may signify the involvement of different mechanisms in low-level DPOAE generation for the two papillae, respectively.
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Abstract
Monitors (all of which belong to the genus Varanus) make up a very uniform family of often large lizards. They have a large auditory papilla that is not highly specialized, but is divided into two unequal sub-papillae. All hair cells are covered by a tectorial membrane. Spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAE) were examined in Cape monitor lizards (Varanus exanthematicus) and found between 1.08 and 2.91 kHz (at 32 degrees C) and with levels between -2.8 and 25.8 dB SPL. The frequency of SOAE was temperature dependent, with a maximal shift of 0.07 octaves/degrees C. All SOAE could be suppressed by external tones, most easily by tones near the center frequency and thus suppression tuning curves were V-shaped. In addition, SOAE could be facilitated by external tones, the amplitude increasing up to 10 dB. The most effective tones were generally those between 0.33 and 0.75 octaves above the respective center frequency of the SOAE. External tones could also change the center frequency of SOAE by up to several hundred Hz, most tones causing frequency 'pushing'. Compared to SOAE of other lizards, Varanus SOAE have larger amplitudes and show larger frequency shifts with temperature. Both of these features may be the result of the coupling of large numbers of hair cells via the continuous tectorial membrane.
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Affiliation(s)
- Geoffrey A Manley
- Lehrstuhl für Zoologie, Technische Universität München, Lichtenbergstrasse 4, 85747 Garching, Germany.
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van Dijk P, Narins PM, Mason MJ. Physiological vulnerability of distortion product otoacoustic emissions from the amphibian ear. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2003; 114:2044-2048. [PMID: 14587603 DOI: 10.1121/1.1608957] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
The physiological vulnerability of distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) was investigated in the leopard frog, Rana pipiens pipiens. For each frog, DPOAEs were recorded from the amphibian and the basilar papillae. Measurements were taken before and after either the arrest of oxygen supply due to cardioectomy, or the destruction of the central nervous system (CNS). DPOAEs in response to high-level stimuli (> 75 dB SPL) were rather robust to these insults during the first two hours post surgery. In contrast, DPOAE amplitudes in response to low-level stimuli (< 75 dB SPL) decreased significantly. On average, low-level emissions from the amphibian papilla disappeared within 6 min for cardioectomy, and after 13 min for CNS destruction. In the basilar papilla, low-level DPOAEs disappeared more slowly: on average after 34 min following cardioectomy, and after 58 min for CNS destruction. The difference in physiological vulnerability between low- and high-level emissions is similar to that in mammals and a lizard. The difference between the DPOAE decay rate of the frog's amphibian and basilar papillae suggests important differences between the hearing mechanisms of the papillae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pim van Dijk
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery, University Hospital Maastricht, P.O. Box 5800, 6202 AZ Maastricht, The Netherlands.
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Abstract
One prominent manifestation of mechanical activity in hair cells is spontaneous otoacoustic emission, the unprovoked emanation of sound by an internal ear. Because active hair bundle motility probably constitutes the active process of nonmammalian hair cells, we investigated the ability of hair bundles in the bullfrog's sacculus to produce oscillations that might underlie spontaneous otoacoustic emissions. When maintained in the normal ionic milieu of the ear, many bundles oscillated spontaneously through distances as great as 80 nm at frequencies of 5-50 Hz. Whole-cell recording disclosed that the positive phase of movement was associated with the opening of transduction channels. Gentamicin, which blocks transduction channels, reversibly arrested oscillation; drugs that affect the cAMP phosphorylation pathway and might influence the activity of myosin altered the rate of oscillation. Increasing the Ca 2+ concentration rendered oscillations faster and smaller until they were suppressed; lowering the Ca 2+ concentration moderately with chelators had the opposite effect. When a bundle was offset with a stimulus fiber, oscillations were transiently suppressed but gradually resumed. Loading a bundle by partial displacement clamping, which simulated the presence of the accessory structures to which a bundle is ordinarily attached, increased the frequency and diminished the magnitude of oscillation. These observations accord with a model in which oscillations arise from the interplay of the hair bundle's negative stiffness with the activity of adaptation motors and with Ca 2+-dependent relaxation of gating springs.
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Martin P, Bozovic D, Choe Y, Hudspeth AJ. Spontaneous oscillation by hair bundles of the bullfrog's sacculus. J Neurosci 2003; 23:4533-48. [PMID: 12805294 PMCID: PMC2174909] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/03/2023] Open
Abstract
One prominent manifestation of mechanical activity in hair cells is spontaneous otoacoustic emission, the unprovoked emanation of sound by an internal ear. Because active hair bundle motility probably constitutes the active process of nonmammalian hair cells, we investigated the ability of hair bundles in the bullfrog's sacculus to produce oscillations that might underlie spontaneous otoacoustic emissions. When maintained in the normal ionic milieu of the ear, many bundles oscillated spontaneously through distances as great as 80 nm at frequencies of 5-50 Hz. Whole-cell recording disclosed that the positive phase of movement was associated with the opening of transduction channels. Gentamicin, which blocks transduction channels, reversibly arrested oscillation; drugs that affect the cAMP phosphorylation pathway and might influence the activity of myosin altered the rate of oscillation. Increasing the Ca 2+ concentration rendered oscillations faster and smaller until they were suppressed; lowering the Ca 2+ concentration moderately with chelators had the opposite effect. When a bundle was offset with a stimulus fiber, oscillations were transiently suppressed but gradually resumed. Loading a bundle by partial displacement clamping, which simulated the presence of the accessory structures to which a bundle is ordinarily attached, increased the frequency and diminished the magnitude of oscillation. These observations accord with a model in which oscillations arise from the interplay of the hair bundle's negative stiffness with the activity of adaptation motors and with Ca 2+-dependent relaxation of gating springs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pascal Martin
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Laboratory of Sensory Neuroscience, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10021-6399, USA
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