Vincent PF, Bouleau Y, Petit C, Dulon D. A synaptic F-actin network controls otoferlin-dependent exocytosis in auditory inner hair cells.
eLife 2015;
4. [PMID:
26568308 PMCID:
PMC4714970 DOI:
10.7554/elife.10988]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2015] [Accepted: 11/12/2015] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
We show that a cage-shaped F-actin network is essential for maintaining a tight spatial organization of Cav1.3 Ca2+ channels at the synaptic ribbons of auditory inner hair cells. This F-actin network is also found to provide mechanosensitivity to the Cav1.3 channels when varying intracellular hydrostatic pressure. Furthermore, this F-actin mesh network attached to the synaptic ribbons directly influences the efficiency of otoferlin-dependent exocytosis and its sensitivity to intracellular hydrostatic pressure, independently of its action on the Cav1.3 channels. We propose a new mechanistic model for vesicle exocytosis in auditory hair cells where the rate of vesicle recruitment to the ribbons is directly controlled by a synaptic F-actin network and changes in intracellular hydrostatic pressure.
DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.10988.001
To hear a sound, the pressure produced by sound waves must be converted into an electrical nerve signal. The cells inside the ear that perform this transformation are called hair cells, which are so named because they have hundreds of hair-like structures on their upper surface. Pressure from sound waves causes movements in the inner ear that bend these ‘hairs’. This causes the hair cells to release chemical signals to neighboring nerve cell terminals that ultimately transmit information about the sound to the brain.
The chemical signals are stored inside the hair cells in bubble-like compartments called vesicles. To release the chemicals from the cell, the vesicles merge with the membrane that surrounds the hair cell. Most cells that communicate in this way are limited in how long they can transmit such messages. However, hair cells can continuously fuse vesicles to the membrane even when a sound lasts for a long time. This suggests that the hair cells have a different way of producing vesicles and getting them to the membrane than other cell types.
Inside the hair cells, vesicles are stored in regions called active zones. Each active zone contains a “ribbon” (attached to which are hundreds of vesicles) and also ion channels that allow calcium ions to flow into the cell. (An increase in calcium ion concentration inside the cell is necessary for the vesicle to fuse with the cell membrane and so release its chemical content). Now, Vincent et al. show that in hair cells, a cage-like network made from a protein called actin surrounds each active zone. This network helps to position the calcium ion channels. Treating the hair cells with a compound that disorganized the actin networks speed up the process of vesicle movement, which suggests that the actin network also controls the rate at which vesicles reach the membrane.
Next, it will be important to identify how the actin network interacts with other molecules that help vesicles to release their contents; in particular a protein called otoferlin, which is thought to act as a calcium ion sensor.
DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.10988.002
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