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Bartholomew RA, Hoffman SE, Juliano AF, Wu PZ, Zhao Y, de Gruttola V, Liberman MC, Maison SF. On the Difficulty Predicting Word Recognition Performance After Cochlear Implantation. Otol Neurotol 2024; 45:e393-e399. [PMID: 38573598 PMCID: PMC11087198 DOI: 10.1097/mao.0000000000004176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/05/2024]
Abstract
HYPOTHESIS Preimplantation word scores cannot reliably predict postimplantation outcomes. BACKGROUND To date, there is no model based on preoperative data that can reliably predict the postoperative outcomes of cochlear implantation in the postlingually deafened adult patient. METHODS In a group of 228 patients who received a cochlear implant between 2002 and 2021, we tested the predictive power of nine variables (age, etiology, sex, laterality of implantation, preimplantation thresholds and word scores, as well as the design, insertion approach, and angular insertion depth of the electrode array) on postimplantation outcomes. Results of multivariable linear regression analyses were then interpreted in light of data obtained from histopathological analyses of human temporal bones. RESULTS Age and etiology were the only significant predictors of postimplantation outcomes. In agreement with many investigations, preimplantation word scores failed to significantly predict postimplantation outcomes. Analysis of temporal bone histopathology suggests that neuronal survival must fall below 40% before word scores in quiet begin to drop. Scores fall steeply with further neurodegeneration, such that only 20% survival can support acoustically driven word scores of 50%. Because almost all cochlear implant implantees have at least 20% of their spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs) surviving, it is expected that most cochlear implant users on average should improve to at least 50% word recognition score, as we observed, even if their preimplantation score was near zero as a result of widespread hair cell damage and the fact that ~50% of their SGNs have likely lost their peripheral axons. These "disconnected" SGNs would not contribute to acoustic hearing but likely remain electrically excitable. CONCLUSION The relationship between preimplantation word scores and data describing the survival of SGNs in humans can explain why preimplantation word scores obtained in unaided conditions fail to predict postimplantation outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Amy F Juliano
- Department of Radiology, Massachusetts Eye & Ear, Harvard Medical School
| | | | - Yan Zhao
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye & Ear
| | - Victor de Gruttola
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
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O'Malley JT, Wu PZ, Kaur C, Gantz BJ, Hansen MR, Quesnel AM, Liberman MC. Delayed hearing loss after cochlear implantation: Re-evaluating the role of hair cell degeneration. Hear Res 2024; 447:109024. [PMID: 38735179 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2024.109024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2024] [Revised: 04/18/2024] [Accepted: 04/26/2024] [Indexed: 05/14/2024]
Abstract
Delayed loss of residual acoustic hearing after cochlear implantation is a common but poorly understood phenomenon due to the scarcity of relevant temporal bone tissues. Prior histopathological analysis of one case of post-implantation hearing loss suggested there were no interaural differences in hair cell or neural degeneration to explain the profound loss of low-frequency hearing on the implanted side (Quesnel et al., 2016) and attributed the threshold elevation to neo-ossification and fibrosis around the implant. Here we re-evaluated the histopathology in this case, applying immunostaining and improved microscopic techniques for differentiating surviving hair cells from supporting cells. The new analysis revealed dramatic interaural differences, with a > 80 % loss of inner hair cells in the cochlear apex on the implanted side, which can account for the post-implantation loss of residual hearing. Apical degeneration of the stria further contributed to threshold elevation on the implanted side. In contrast, spiral ganglion cell survival was reduced in the region of the electrode on the implanted side, but apical counts in the two ears were similar to that seen in age-matched unimplanted control ears. Almost none of the surviving auditory neurons retained peripheral axons throughout the basal half of the cochlea. Relevance to cochlear implant performance is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer T O'Malley
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Otopathology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA; Dept of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Pei-Zhe Wu
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Otopathology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA; Dept of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Charanjeet Kaur
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Otopathology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA; Dept of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Bruce J Gantz
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242
| | - Marlan R Hansen
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242
| | - Alicia M Quesnel
- Otopathology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA; Dept of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Otopathology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA; Dept of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
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Buswinka CJ, Rosenberg DB, Simikyan RG, Osgood RT, Fernandez K, Nitta H, Hayashi Y, Liberman LW, Nguyen E, Yildiz E, Kim J, Jarysta A, Renauld J, Wesson E, Wang H, Thapa P, Bordiga P, McMurtry N, Llamas J, Kitcher SR, López-Porras AI, Cui R, Behnammanesh G, Bird JE, Ballesteros A, Vélez-Ortega AC, Edge ASB, Deans MR, Gnedeva K, Shrestha BR, Manor U, Zhao B, Ricci AJ, Tarchini B, Basch ML, Stepanyan R, Landegger LD, Rutherford MA, Liberman MC, Walters BJ, Kros CJ, Richardson GP, Cunningham LL, Indzhykulian AA. Large-scale annotated dataset for cochlear hair cell detection and classification. Sci Data 2024; 11:416. [PMID: 38653806 PMCID: PMC11039649 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-024-03218-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 04/03/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Our sense of hearing is mediated by cochlear hair cells, of which there are two types organized in one row of inner hair cells and three rows of outer hair cells. Each cochlea contains 5-15 thousand terminally differentiated hair cells, and their survival is essential for hearing as they do not regenerate after insult. It is often desirable in hearing research to quantify the number of hair cells within cochlear samples, in both pathological conditions, and in response to treatment. Machine learning can be used to automate the quantification process but requires a vast and diverse dataset for effective training. In this study, we present a large collection of annotated cochlear hair-cell datasets, labeled with commonly used hair-cell markers and imaged using various fluorescence microscopy techniques. The collection includes samples from mouse, rat, guinea pig, pig, primate, and human cochlear tissue, from normal conditions and following in-vivo and in-vitro ototoxic drug application. The dataset includes over 107,000 hair cells which have been identified and annotated as either inner or outer hair cells. This dataset is the result of a collaborative effort from multiple laboratories and has been carefully curated to represent a variety of imaging techniques. With suggested usage parameters and a well-described annotation procedure, this collection can facilitate the development of generalizable cochlear hair-cell detection models or serve as a starting point for fine-tuning models for other analysis tasks. By providing this dataset, we aim to give other hearing research groups the opportunity to develop their own tools with which to analyze cochlear imaging data more fully, accurately, and with greater ease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher J Buswinka
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Speech and Hearing Biosciences and Technology graduate program, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - David B Rosenberg
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
| | - Rubina G Simikyan
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Richard T Osgood
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Sussex Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
| | - Katharine Fernandez
- Section on Sensory Cell Biology, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA
| | - Hidetomi Nitta
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Yushi Hayashi
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Leslie W Liberman
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Emily Nguyen
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Erdem Yildiz
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Vienna General Hospital and Medical University of Vienna, 1090, Vienna, Austria
| | - Jinkyung Kim
- Department of Otolaryngology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, 63110, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, 63110, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | | | - Justine Renauld
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Ella Wesson
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Haobing Wang
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Punam Thapa
- The University of Mississippi Medical Center, Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Jackson, MS, 39216, USA
| | - Pierrick Bordiga
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Noah McMurtry
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA
| | - Juan Llamas
- Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA
- Tina and Rick Caruso Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA
| | - Siân R Kitcher
- Sussex Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
| | - Ana I López-Porras
- Department of Physiology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 40536, USA
| | - Runjia Cui
- Section on Sensory Physiology and Biophysics, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA
| | - Ghazaleh Behnammanesh
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA
| | - Jonathan E Bird
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA
| | - Angela Ballesteros
- Section on Sensory Physiology and Biophysics, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA
| | | | - Albert S B Edge
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Michael R Deans
- Department of Neurobiology, Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84132, USA
| | - Ksenia Gnedeva
- Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA
- Tina and Rick Caruso Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA
| | - Brikha R Shrestha
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Uri Manor
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
- Waitt Advanced Biophotonics Center, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 10010 N. Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA
| | - Bo Zhao
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA
| | - Anthony J Ricci
- Department of Neuroscience, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, 63110, USA
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Basile Tarchini
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME, 04609, USA
- Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, 02111, MA, USA
- Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering (GSBSE), University of Maine, Orono, ME, 04469, USA
| | - Martín L Basch
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Ruben Stepanyan
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
- Department of Neurosciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Lukas D Landegger
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Vienna General Hospital and Medical University of Vienna, 1090, Vienna, Austria
- Department of Otolaryngology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Mark A Rutherford
- Department of Otolaryngology, Washington University, 660 S. Euclid Avenue, Campus Box 8115, St. Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Speech and Hearing Biosciences and Technology graduate program, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Bradley J Walters
- The University of Mississippi Medical Center, Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Jackson, MS, 39216, USA
| | - Corné J Kros
- Sussex Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
| | - Guy P Richardson
- Sussex Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
| | - Lisa L Cunningham
- Section on Sensory Cell Biology, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA
| | - Artur A Indzhykulian
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
- Speech and Hearing Biosciences and Technology graduate program, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
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Wu PZ, Liberman LD, Liberman MC. Noise-induced synaptic loss and its post-exposure recovery in CBA/CaJ vs. C57BL/6J mice. Hear Res 2024; 445:108996. [PMID: 38547565 PMCID: PMC11024800 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2024.108996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2024] [Revised: 03/11/2024] [Accepted: 03/22/2024] [Indexed: 04/07/2024]
Abstract
Acute noise-induced loss of synapses between inner hair cells (IHCs) and auditory nerve fibers (ANFs) has been documented in several strains of mice, but the extent of post-exposure recovery reportedly varies dramatically. If such inter-strain heterogeneity is real, it could be exploited to probe molecular pathways mediating neural remodeling in the adult cochlea. Here, we compared synaptopathy repair in CBA/CaJ vs. C57BL/6J, which are at opposite ends of the reported recovery spectrum. We evaluated C57BL/6J mice 0 h, 24 h, 2 wks or 8 wks after exposure for 2 h to octave-band noise (8-16 kHz) at either 90, 94 or 98 dB SPL, to compare with analogous post-exposure results in CBA/CaJ at 98 or 101 dB. We counted pre- and post-synaptic puncta in immunostained cochleas, using machine learning to classify paired (GluA2 and CtBP2) vs. orphan (CtBP2 only) puncta, and batch-processing to quantify immunostaining intensity. At 98 dB, both strains show ongoing loss of ribbons and synapses between 0 and 24 h, followed by partial recovery, however the extent and degree of these changes were greater in C57BL/6J. Much of the synaptic recovery is due to transient reduction in GluA2 intensity in synaptopathic regions. In contrast, CtBP2 intensity showed only transient increases (at 2 wks). Neurofilament staining revealed transient extension of ANF terminals in C57BL/6J, but not in CBA/CaJ, peaking at 24 h and reverting by 2 wks. Thus, although interstrain differences in synapse recovery are dominated by reversible changes in GluA2 receptor levels, the neurite extension seen in C57BL/6J suggests a qualitative difference in regenerative capacity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pei-Zhe Wu
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Leslie D Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
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Kaur C, Wu PZ, O'Malley JT, Liberman MC. Predicting Atrophy of the Cochlear Stria Vascularis from the Shape of the Threshold Audiogram. J Neurosci 2023; 43:8801-8811. [PMID: 37863653 PMCID: PMC10727192 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1138-23.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Revised: 10/02/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 10/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Several lines of evidence have suggested that steeply sloping audiometric losses are caused by hair cell degeneration, while flat audiometric losses are caused by strial atrophy, but this concept has never been rigorously tested in human specimens. Here, we systematically compare audiograms and cochlear histopathology in 160 human cases from the archival collection of celloidin-embedded temporal bones at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear. The dataset included 106 cases from a prior study of normal-aging ears, and an additional 54 cases selected by combing the database for flat audiograms. Audiogram shapes were classified algorithmically into five groups according to the relation between flatness (i.e., SD of hearing levels across all frequencies) and low-frequency pure-tone average (i.e., mean at 0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 kHz). Outer and inner hair cell losses, neural degeneration, and strial atrophy were all quantified as a function of cochlear location in each case. Results showed that strial atrophy was worse in the apical than the basal half of the cochlea and was worse in females than in males. The degree of strial atrophy was uncorrelated with audiogram flatness. Apical atrophy was correlated with low-frequency thresholds and basal atrophy with high-frequency thresholds, and the former correlation was higher. However, a multivariable regression with all histopathological measures as predictors and audiometric thresholds as the outcome showed that strial atrophy was a significant predictor of threshold shift only in the low-frequency region, and, even there, the contribution of outer hair cell damage was larger.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Cochlear pathology can only be assessed postmortem; thus, human cochlear histopathology is critical to our understanding of the mechanisms of hearing loss. Dogma holds that relative damage to sensory cells, which transduce mechanical vibration into electrical signals, versus the stria vascularis, the cellular battery that powers transduction, can be inferred by the shape of the audiogram, that is, down-sloping (hair cell damage) versus flat (strial atrophy). Here we quantified hair cell and strial atrophy in 160 human specimens to show that it is the degree of low-frequency hearing loss, rather than the audiogram slope, that predicts strial atrophy. Results are critical to the design of clinical trials for hearing-loss therapeutics, as current drugs target only hair cell, not strial, regeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charanjeet Kaur
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts 02114
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115
| | - Pei-Zhe Wu
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts 02114
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115
| | - Jennifer T O'Malley
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts 02114
- Otopathology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts 02114
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts 02114
- Otopathology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts 02114
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115
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Vasilkov V, Caswell-Midwinter B, Zhao Y, de Gruttola V, Jung DH, Liberman MC, Maison SF. Evidence of cochlear neural degeneration in normal-hearing subjects with tinnitus. Sci Rep 2023; 13:19870. [PMID: 38036538 PMCID: PMC10689483 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-46741-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2023] [Accepted: 11/04/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Tinnitus, reduced sound-level tolerance, and difficulties hearing in noisy environments are the most common complaints associated with sensorineural hearing loss in adult populations. This study aims to clarify if cochlear neural degeneration estimated in a large pool of participants with normal audiograms is associated with self-report of tinnitus using a test battery probing the different stages of the auditory processing from hair cell responses to the auditory reflexes of the brainstem. Self-report of chronic tinnitus was significantly associated with (1) reduced cochlear nerve responses, (2) weaker middle-ear muscle reflexes, (3) stronger medial olivocochlear efferent reflexes and (4) hyperactivity in the central auditory pathways. These results support the model of tinnitus generation whereby decreased neural activity from a damaged cochlea can elicit hyperactivity from decreased inhibition in the central nervous system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Viacheslav Vasilkov
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, 243 Charles Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Benjamin Caswell-Midwinter
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, 243 Charles Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Yan Zhao
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, 243 Charles Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Victor de Gruttola
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - David H Jung
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, 243 Charles Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, 243 Charles Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Stéphane F Maison
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, 243 Charles Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
- Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
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Moverman DJ, Liberman LD, Kraemer S, Corfas G, Liberman MC. Ultrastructure of noise-induced cochlear synaptopathy. Sci Rep 2023; 13:19456. [PMID: 37945811 PMCID: PMC10636047 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-46859-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2023] [Accepted: 11/06/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Acoustic overexposure can eliminate synapses between inner hair cells (IHCs) and auditory nerve fibers (ANFs), even if hair-cell function recovers. This synaptopathy has been extensively studied by confocal microscopy, however, understanding the nature and sequence of damage requires ultrastructural analysis. Here, we used focused ion-beam scanning electron microscopy to mill, image, segment and reconstruct ANF terminals in mice, 1 day and 1 week after synaptopathic exposure (8-16 kHz, 98 dB SPL). At both survivals, ANF terminals were normal in number, but 62% and 53%, respectively, lacked normal synaptic specializations. Most non-synapsing fibers (57% and 48% at 1 day and 1 week) remained in contact with an IHC and contained healthy-looking organelles. ANFs showed a transient increase in mitochondrial content (51%) and efferent innervation (34%) at 1 day. Fibers maintaining synaptic connections showed hypertrophy of pre-synaptic ribbons at both 1 day and 1 week. Non-synaptic fibers were lower in mitochondrial content and typically on the modiolar side of the IHC, where ANFs with high-thresholds and low spontaneous rates are normally found. Even 1 week post-exposure, many ANF terminals remained in IHC contact despite loss of synaptic specializations, thus, regeneration efforts at early post-exposure times should concentrate on synaptogenesis rather than neurite extension.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel J Moverman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, 243 Charles St., Boston, MA, 02114-3096, USA
| | - Leslie D Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, 243 Charles St., Boston, MA, 02114-3096, USA
| | - Stephan Kraemer
- Center for Nanoscale Systems, Harvard College, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Gabriel Corfas
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Kresge Hearing Research Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, 243 Charles St., Boston, MA, 02114-3096, USA.
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
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8
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Wu PZ, O'Malley JT, Liberman MC. Neural Degeneration in Normal-Aging Human Cochleas: Machine-Learning Counts and 3D Mapping in Archival Sections. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol 2023; 24:499-511. [PMID: 37957485 PMCID: PMC10695900 DOI: 10.1007/s10162-023-00909-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2023] [Accepted: 09/03/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Quantifying the survival patterns of spiral ganglion cells (SGCs), the cell bodies of auditory-nerve fibers, is critical to studies of sensorineural hearing loss, especially in human temporal bones. The classic method of manual counting is tedious, and, although stereology approaches can be faster, they can only be used to estimate total cell numbers per cochlea. Here, a machine-learning algorithm that automatically identifies, counts, and maps the SGCs in digitized images of semi-serial human temporal-bone sections not only speeds the analysis, with no loss of accuracy, but also allows 3D visualization of the SGCs and fine-grained mapping to cochlear frequency. Applying the algorithm to 62 normal-aging human ears shows significantly faster degeneration of SGCs in the basal than the apical half of the cochlea. Comparison to fiber counts in the same ears shows that the fraction of surviving SGCs lacking a peripheral axon steadily increases with age, reaching more than 50% in the apical cochlea and almost 66% in basal regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pei-Zhe Wu
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, 243 Charles St., Boston, MA, 02114-3096, USA.
- Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
| | - Jennifer T O'Malley
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, 243 Charles St., Boston, MA, 02114-3096, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, 243 Charles St., Boston, MA, 02114-3096, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
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9
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Buswinka CJ, Rosenberg DB, Simikyan RG, Osgood RT, Fernandez K, Nitta H, Hayashi Y, Liberman LW, Nguyen E, Yildiz E, Kim J, Jarysta A, Renauld J, Wesson E, Thapa P, Bordiga P, McMurtry N, Llamas J, Kitcher SR, López-Porras AI, Cui R, Behnammanesh G, Bird JE, Ballesteros A, Vélez-Ortega AC, Edge AS, Deans MR, Gnedeva K, Shrestha BR, Manor U, Zhao B, Ricci AJ, Tarchini B, Basch M, Stepanyan RS, Landegger LD, Rutherford M, Liberman MC, Walters BJ, Kros CJ, Richardson GP, Cunningham LL, Indzhykulian AA. Large-scale annotated dataset for cochlear hair cell detection and classification. bioRxiv 2023:2023.08.30.553559. [PMID: 37693382 PMCID: PMC10491224 DOI: 10.1101/2023.08.30.553559] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/12/2023]
Abstract
Our sense of hearing is mediated by cochlear hair cells, localized within the sensory epithelium called the organ of Corti. There are two types of hair cells in the cochlea, which are organized in one row of inner hair cells and three rows of outer hair cells. Each cochlea contains a few thousands of hair cells, and their survival is essential for our perception of sound because they are terminally differentiated and do not regenerate after insult. It is often desirable in hearing research to quantify the number of hair cells within cochlear samples, in both pathological conditions, and in response to treatment. However, the sheer number of cells along the cochlea makes manual quantification impractical. Machine learning can be used to overcome this challenge by automating the quantification process but requires a vast and diverse dataset for effective training. In this study, we present a large collection of annotated cochlear hair-cell datasets, labeled with commonly used hair-cell markers and imaged using various fluorescence microscopy techniques. The collection includes samples from mouse, human, pig and guinea pig cochlear tissue, from normal conditions and following in-vivo and in-vitro ototoxic drug application. The dataset includes over 90'000 hair cells, all of which have been manually identified and annotated as one of two cell types: inner hair cells and outer hair cells. This dataset is the result of a collaborative effort from multiple laboratories and has been carefully curated to represent a variety of imaging techniques. With suggested usage parameters and a well-described annotation procedure, this collection can facilitate the development of generalizable cochlear hair cell detection models or serve as a starting point for fine-tuning models for other analysis tasks. By providing this dataset, we aim to supply other groups within the hearing research community with the opportunity to develop their own tools with which to analyze cochlear imaging data more fully, accurately, and with greater ease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher J Buswinka
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Speech and Hearing Biosciences and Technology graduate program, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - David B Rosenberg
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Rubina G Simikyan
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Richard T Osgood
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Sussex Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
| | - Katharine Fernandez
- Section on Sensory Cell Biology, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA
| | - Hidetomi Nitta
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Yushi Hayashi
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Leslie W Liberman
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Emily Nguyen
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Erdem Yildiz
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Vienna General Hospital and Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Jinkyung Kim
- Department of Otolaryngology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | | | - Justine Renauld
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Ella Wesson
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Punam Thapa
- The University of Mississippi Medical Center, Dept. of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Jackson, MS, USA
| | - Pierrick Bordiga
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Noah McMurtry
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA
| | - Juan Llamas
- Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA
- Tina and Rick Caruso Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA
| | - Siân R Kitcher
- Sussex Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
| | - Ana I López-Porras
- Department of Physiology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 40536, USA
| | - Runjia Cui
- Section on Sensory Physiology and Biophysics, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA
| | - Ghazaleh Behnammanesh
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA; Myology Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA
| | - Jonathan E Bird
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA; Myology Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA
| | - Angela Ballesteros
- Section on Sensory Physiology and Biophysics, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA
| | | | - Albert Sb Edge
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Michael R Deans
- Department of Neurobiology, Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84132, USA
| | - Ksenia Gnedeva
- Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA
- Tina and Rick Caruso Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA
| | - Brikha R Shrestha
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Uri Manor
- Waitt Advanced Biophotonics Center, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 10010 N. Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093
| | - Bo Zhao
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA
| | - Anthony J Ricci
- Department of Otolaryngology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Basile Tarchini
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME, 04609, USA
- Department of Medicine, Tufts University, Boston, 02111, MA, USA
- Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering (GSBSE), University of Maine, Orono, ME, 04469, USA
| | - Martin Basch
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Ruben S Stepanyan
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
- Department of Neurosciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Lukas D Landegger
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Vienna General Hospital and Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Mark Rutherford
- Department of Otolaryngology, Washington University, 660 S. Euclid Avenue, Campus Box 8115, St. Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Speech and Hearing Biosciences and Technology graduate program, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Bradley J Walters
- The University of Mississippi Medical Center, Dept. of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Jackson, MS, USA
| | - Corné J Kros
- Sussex Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
| | - Guy P Richardson
- Sussex Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
| | - Lisa L Cunningham
- Section on Sensory Cell Biology, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA
| | - Artur A Indzhykulian
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Speech and Hearing Biosciences and Technology graduate program, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
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10
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Kaur C, Van Orden M, O'Malley JT, Wu PZ, Liberman MC. Supporting-cell vs. hair-cell survival in the human cochlea: Implications for regenerative therapies. Hear Res 2023; 435:108815. [PMID: 37263113 PMCID: PMC10426718 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2023.108815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Revised: 05/15/2023] [Accepted: 05/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Animal studies have shown that the supporting-cells surviving in the organ of Corti after cochlear insult can be transdifferentiated into hair cells as a treatment for sensorineural hearing loss. Clinical trials of small-molecule therapeutics have been undertaken, but little is known about how to predict the pattern and degree of supporting-cell survival based on audiogram, hearing loss etiology or any other metric obtainable pre-mortem. To address this, we systematically assessed supporting-cell and hair cell survival, as a function of cochlear location in 274 temporal bone cases from the archives at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear and compared the histopathology with the audiograms and hearing-loss etiologies. Results showed that supporting-cell survival was always significantly greater in the apical half than the basal half of the cochlea, that inner pillars were more robust than outer pillars or Deiters' cells, and that total replacement of all supporting cells with a flat epithelium was rare outside of the extreme basal 20% of the cochlea. Supporting cell survival in the basal half of the cochlea was better correlated with the slope of the audiogram than with the mean high-frequency threshold per se: i.e. survival was better with flatter audiograms than with steeply down-sloping audiograms. Cochlear regions with extensive hair cell loss and exceptional supporting cell survival were most common in cases with hearing loss due to ototoxic drugs. Such cases also tended to have less pathology in other functionally critical structures, i.e. spiral ganglion neurons and the stria vascularis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charanjeet Kaur
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Dept of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
| | | | - Jennifer T O'Malley
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Otopathology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Pei-Zhe Wu
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Dept of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Otopathology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Dept of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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11
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Kaur C, Van Orden M, O’Malley JT, Wu PZ, Liberman MC. Supporting-cell vs. hair-cell survival in the human cochlea: Implications for regenerative therapies. bioRxiv 2023:2023.04.24.538119. [PMID: 37163013 PMCID: PMC10168255 DOI: 10.1101/2023.04.24.538119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Animal studies have shown that the supporting-cells surviving in the organ of Corti after cochlear insult can be transdifferentiated into hair cells as a treatment for sensorineural hearing loss. Clinical trials of small-molecule therapeutics have been undertaken, but little is known about how to predict the pattern and degree of supporting-cell survival based on audiogram, hearing loss etiology or any other metric obtainable pre-mortem. To address this, we systematically assessed supporting-cell and hair cell survival, as a function of cochlear location in 274 temporal bone cases from the archives at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear and compared the histopathology with the audiograms and hearing-loss etiologies. Results showed that supporting-cell survival was always significantly greater in the apical half than the basal half of the cochlea, that inner pillars were more robust than outer pillars or Deiters' cells, and that total replacement of all supporting cells with a flat epithelium was rare outside of the extreme basal 20% of the cochlea. Supporting cell survival in the basal half of the cochlea was better correlated with the slope of the audiogram than with the mean high-frequency threshold per se: i.e. survival was better with flatter audiograms than with steeply down-sloping audiograms. Cochlear regions with extensive hair cell loss and exceptional supporting cell survival were most common in cases with hearing loss due to ototoxic drugs. Such cases also tended to have less pathology in other functionally critical structures, i.e. spiral ganglion neurons and the stria vascularis. Highlights Supporting cell survival was systematically assessed in 274 human cochleasSupporting cell survival was better with flat than with down-sloping audiogramsSupporting cell survival was most robust when hearing loss was from ototoxic drugsOtotoxic cases also showed less pathology in other critical cochlear structuresThe data can inform clinical trials for regeneration via supporting cell conversion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charanjeet Kaur
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114
- Dept of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115
| | | | - Jennifer T. O’Malley
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114
- Otopathology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114
| | - Pei-zhe Wu
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114
- Dept of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115
| | - M. Charles Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114
- Otopathology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114
- Dept of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115
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12
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Geerardyn A, Zhu M, Wu P, O'Malley J, Nadol JB, Liberman MC, Nakajima HH, Verhaert N, Quesnel AM. Three-dimensional quantification of fibrosis and ossification after cochlear implantation via virtual re-sectioning: Potential implications for residual hearing. Hear Res 2023; 428:108681. [PMID: 36584546 PMCID: PMC10942756 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2022.108681] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2022] [Revised: 12/13/2022] [Accepted: 12/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Hearing preservation may be achieved initially in the majority of patients after cochlear implantation, however, a significant proportion of these patients experience delayed hearing loss months or years later. A prior histological report in a case of delayed hearing loss suggested a potential cochlear mechanical origin of this hearing loss due to tissue fibrosis, and older case series highlight the frequent findings of post-implantation fibrosis and neoosteogenesis though without a focus on the impact on residual hearing. Here we present the largest series (N = 20) of 3-dimensionally reconstructed cochleae based on digitally scanned histologic sections from patients who were implanted during their lifetime. All patients were implanted with multichannel electrodes via a cochleostomy or an extended round window insertion. A quantified analysis of intracochlear tissue formation was carried out via virtual re-sectioning orthogonal to the cochlear spiral. Intracochlear tissue formation was present in every case. On average 33% (SD 14%) of the total cochlear volume was occupied by new tissue formation, consisting of 26% (SD 12%) fibrous and 7% (SD 6%) bony tissue. The round window was completely covered by fibro-osseous tissue in 85% of cases and was associated with an obstruction of the cochlear aqueduct in 100%. The basal part of the basilar membrane was at least partially abutted by the electrode or new tissue formation in every case, while the apical region, corresponding with a characteristic frequency of < 500 Hz, appeared normal in 89%. This quantitative analysis shows that after cochlear implantation via extended round window or cochleostomy, intracochlear fibrosis and neoossification are present in all cases at anatomical locations that could impact normal inner ear mechanics.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Geerardyn
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Otopathology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, USA; ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - M Zhu
- Otopathology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, USA
| | - P Wu
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, USA
| | - J O'Malley
- Otopathology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, USA
| | - J B Nadol
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Otopathology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, USA
| | - M C Liberman
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Otopathology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, USA; Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, USA
| | - H H Nakajima
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, USA
| | - N Verhaert
- ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - A M Quesnel
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Otopathology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, USA.
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13
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Vasilkov V, Liberman MC, Maison SF. Isolating auditory-nerve contributions to electrocochleography by high-pass filtering: A better biomarker for cochlear nerve degeneration? JASA Express Lett 2023; 3:024401. [PMID: 36858988 PMCID: PMC9969351 DOI: 10.1121/10.0017328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2022] [Accepted: 01/26/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
In search of biomarkers for cochlear neural degeneration (CND) in electrocochleography from humans with normal thresholds, we high-pass and low-pass filtered the responses to separate contributions of auditory-nerve action potentials (N1) from hair-cell summating potentials (SP). The new N1 measure is better correlated with performance on difficult word-recognition tasks used as a proxy for CND. Furthermore, the paradoxical correlation between larger SPs and worse word scores, observed with classic electrocochleographic analysis, disappears with the new metric. Classic SP is simultaneous with and opposite in phase to an early neural contribution, and filtering separates the sources to eliminate this interference.
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Affiliation(s)
- Viacheslav Vasilkov
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Department of Otolaryngology -Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachussetts 02114, USA ; ;
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Department of Otolaryngology -Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachussetts 02114, USA ; ;
| | - Stéphane F Maison
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Department of Otolaryngology -Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachussetts 02114, USA ; ;
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14
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Cassinotti LR, Ji L, Borges BC, Cass ND, Desai AS, Kohrman DC, Liberman MC, Corfas G. Cochlear Neurotrophin-3 overexpression at mid-life prevents age-related inner hair cell synaptopathy and slows age-related hearing loss. Aging Cell 2022; 21:e13708. [PMID: 36088647 PMCID: PMC9577954 DOI: 10.1111/acel.13708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2022] [Revised: 08/02/2022] [Accepted: 08/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) is the most prevalent sensory deficit in the elderly. This progressive pathology often has psychological and medical comorbidities, including social isolation, depression, and cognitive decline. Despite ARHL's enormous societal and economic impact, no therapies to prevent or slow its progression exist. Loss of synapses between inner hair cells (IHCs) and spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs), a.k.a. IHC synaptopathy, is an early event in cochlear aging, preceding neuronal and hair cell loss. To determine if age-related IHC synaptopathy can be prevented, and if this impacts the time-course of ARHL, we tested the effects of cochlear overexpression of neurotrophin-3 (Ntf3) starting at middle age. We chose Ntf3 because this neurotrophin regulates the formation of IHC-SGN synapses in the neonatal period. We now show that triggering Ntf3 overexpression by IHC supporting cells starting in middle age rapidly increases the amplitude of sound-evoked neural potentials compared with age-matched controls, indicating that Ntf3 produces a positive effect on cochlear function when the pathology is minimal. Furthermore, near the end of their lifespan, Ntf3-overexpressing mice have milder ARHL, with larger sound-evoked potentials along the ascending auditory pathway and reduced IHC synaptopathy compared with age-matched controls. Our results also provide evidence that an age-related decrease in cochlear Ntf3 expression contributes to ARHL and that Ntf3 supplementation could serve as a therapeutic for this prevalent disorder. Furthermore, these findings suggest that factors that regulate synaptogenesis during development could prevent age-related synaptopathy in the brain, a process involved in several central nervous system degenerative disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis R. Cassinotti
- Kresge Hearing Research Institute and Department of Otolaryngology‐Head and Neck SurgeryUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborMichiganUSA
| | - Lingchao Ji
- Kresge Hearing Research Institute and Department of Otolaryngology‐Head and Neck SurgeryUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborMichiganUSA
- Present address:
Peking University Shenzhen HospitalShenzhenChina
| | - Beatriz C. Borges
- Kresge Hearing Research Institute and Department of Otolaryngology‐Head and Neck SurgeryUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborMichiganUSA
| | - Nathan D. Cass
- Kresge Hearing Research Institute and Department of Otolaryngology‐Head and Neck SurgeryUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborMichiganUSA
- Present address:
The Otology Group of Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt University Medical Center Department of OtolaryngologyNashvilleTennesseeUSA
| | - Aditi S. Desai
- Kresge Hearing Research Institute and Department of Otolaryngology‐Head and Neck SurgeryUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborMichiganUSA
| | - David C. Kohrman
- Kresge Hearing Research Institute and Department of Otolaryngology‐Head and Neck SurgeryUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborMichiganUSA
| | - M. Charles Liberman
- Eaton‐Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye & Ear, and Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck SurgeryHarvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Gabriel Corfas
- Kresge Hearing Research Institute and Department of Otolaryngology‐Head and Neck SurgeryUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborMichiganUSA
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15
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Grierson KE, Hickman TT, Liberman MC. Dopaminergic and cholinergic innervation in the mouse cochlea after noise-induced or age-related synaptopathy. Hear Res 2022; 422:108533. [PMID: 35671600 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2022.108533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2022] [Revised: 04/11/2022] [Accepted: 05/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Cochlear synaptopathy, the loss of or damage to connections between auditory-nerve fibers (ANFs) and inner hair cells (IHCs), is a prominent pathology in noise-induced and age-related hearing loss. Here, we investigated if degeneration of the olivocochlear (OC) efferent innervation is also a major aspect of the synaptopathic ear, by quantifying the volume and spatial organization of its cholinergic and dopaminergic components, using antibodies to vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAT) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), respectively. CBA/CaJ male mice were examined 1 day to 8 months after a synaptopathic noise exposure, and compared to unexposed age-matched controls and unexposed aged mice at 24-28 months. In normal ears, cholinergic lateral (L)OC terminals were denser in the apical half of the cochlea and on the modiolar side of the inner hair cells (IHCs), where ANFs of low-spontaneous rate are typically found, while dopaminergic terminals were more common in the basal third of the cochlea and, re the IHC axes, were offset towards the habenula with respect to cholinergic terminals. The noise had only small and transient effects on the density of LOC innervation, its spatial organization around the IHC axes, or the extent to which TH and VAT signal were colocalized. The synaptopathic noise also had relatively small and transient effects on cholinergic innervation density in the outer hair cell (OHC) area, which normally peaks in the 16 kHz region and falls monotonically towards higher and lower frequencies. In contrast, in the aged ears, there was massive degeneration of OHC efferents, especially in the apical half of the cochlea, where there was also significant loss of OHCs. In the IHC area, there was significant loss of cholinergic terminals in both apical and basal regions and of dopaminergic innervation in the basal half. Furthermore, the cholinergic terminals in the aged ears spread from their normal clustering near the IHC basolateral pole, where the ANF synapses are found, to positions up and down the IHC somata and regions of the neuropil closer to the habenula. This apparent migration was most striking in the apex, where the hair cell pathology was greatest, and may be a harbinger of impending hair cell death.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kiera E Grierson
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114 USA; Dept of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115 USA; Hearing Research Lab, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Darlinghurst, NSW, 2010, AUS
| | - Tyler T Hickman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114 USA; Dept of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115 USA.
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114 USA; Dept of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115 USA
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16
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Abstract
Age-related hearing loss in humans is characterized by progressive loss of threshold sensitivity, especially at high frequencies. A multivariable regression of histopathological metrics from normal-aging human cochleae (Wu et al., 2020) showed that hair cell loss better predicts the audiometric shifts than either neural loss or strial atrophy, however considerable variability in age-related threshold elevation remained unexplained. Here, we develop and apply an algorithm to quantify stereocilia pathology in high-power confocal images of inner and outer hair cells in normal aging human cochleae, aged 21 - 71 yrs. Microdissected epithelial wholemounts of the cochleae were immunostained for myosin VIIa and espin to show cuticular plates and stereocilia, respectively, and each cochlea was imaged at 10 log-spaced locations along the cochlear spiral. An approach based on Fourier transforms was used to quantify the regularity of each stereocilia bundle, and the outcome was compared to a parallel analysis by a human observer. Results show a significant age-related decline in stereocilia regularity and increase in stereocilia loss and fusion. Stereocilia pathology was especially severe on the outer hair cells and in the basal half of the cochlea, and may represent a key contributor to age-related threshold elevations. For the one case with an associated pre-mortem audiogram, the threshold shifts are better predicted from the pattern of stereocilia damage than from the pattern of hair cell loss alone.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pei-Zhe Wu
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, 243 Charles St., Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, 243 Charles St., Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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17
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Grant KJ, Parthasarathy A, Vasilkov V, Caswell-Midwinter B, Freitas ME, de Gruttola V, Polley DB, Liberman MC, Maison SF. Predicting neural deficits in sensorineural hearing loss from word recognition scores. Sci Rep 2022; 12:8929. [PMID: 35739134 PMCID: PMC9226113 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-13023-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2022] [Accepted: 05/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The current gold standard of clinical hearing assessment includes a pure-tone audiogram combined with a word recognition task. This retrospective study tests the hypothesis that deficits in word recognition that cannot be explained by loss in audibility or cognition may reflect underlying cochlear nerve degeneration (CND). We collected the audiological data of nearly 96,000 ears from patients with normal hearing, conductive hearing loss (CHL) and a variety of sensorineural etiologies including (1) age-related hearing loss (ARHL); (2) neuropathy related to vestibular schwannoma or neurofibromatosis of type 2; (3) Ménière’s disease; (4) sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL), (5) exposure to ototoxic drugs (carboplatin and/or cisplatin, vancomycin or gentamicin) or (6) noise damage including those with a 4-kHz “noise notch” or reporting occupational or recreational noise exposure. Word recognition was scored using CID W-22 monosyllabic word lists. The Articulation Index was used to predict the speech intelligibility curve using a transfer function for CID W-22. The level at which maximal intelligibility was predicted was used as presentation level (70 dB HL minimum). Word scores decreased dramatically with age and thresholds in all groups with SNHL etiologies, but relatively little in the conductive hearing loss group. Discrepancies between measured and predicted word scores were largest in patients with neuropathy, Ménière’s disease and SSNHL, intermediate in the noise-damage and ototoxic drug groups, and smallest in the ARHL group. In the CHL group, the measured and predicted word scores were very similar. Since word-score predictions assume that audiometric losses can be compensated by increasing stimulus level, their accuracy in predicting word score for CHL patients is unsurprising. The lack of a strong age effect on word scores in CHL shows that cognitive decline is not a major factor in this test. Amongst the possible contributions to word score discrepancies, CND is a prime candidate: it should worsen intelligibility without affecting thresholds and has been documented in human temporal bones with SNHL. Comparing the audiological trends observed here with the existing histopathological literature supports the notion that word score discrepancies may be a useful CND metric.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelsie J Grant
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye & Ear, 243 Charles Street, Boston, MA, 02114-3096, USA
| | - Aravindakshan Parthasarathy
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye & Ear, 243 Charles Street, Boston, MA, 02114-3096, USA.,Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Communication Science and Disorders, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Viacheslav Vasilkov
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye & Ear, 243 Charles Street, Boston, MA, 02114-3096, USA.,Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Benjamin Caswell-Midwinter
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye & Ear, 243 Charles Street, Boston, MA, 02114-3096, USA.,Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Maria E Freitas
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye & Ear, 243 Charles Street, Boston, MA, 02114-3096, USA
| | - Victor de Gruttola
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Daniel B Polley
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye & Ear, 243 Charles Street, Boston, MA, 02114-3096, USA.,Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye & Ear, 243 Charles Street, Boston, MA, 02114-3096, USA.,Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Stéphane F Maison
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye & Ear, 243 Charles Street, Boston, MA, 02114-3096, USA. .,Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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18
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Suthakar K, Liberman MC. Noise Masking in Cochlear Synaptopathy: Auditory Brainstem Response vs. Auditory Nerve Response in Mouse. J Neurophysiol 2022; 127:1574-1585. [PMID: 35583974 PMCID: PMC9169830 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00402.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2021] [Revised: 04/28/2022] [Accepted: 05/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
After acoustic overexposure, many auditory-nerve fiber (ANF) synapses permanently retract from surviving cochlear hair cells. This synaptopathy is hard to diagnose, since it does not elevate audiometric thresholds until almost no synapses remain, nevertheless it may degrade discrimination of complex stimuli especially in noisy environments. Here, we study an assay based on masking the auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) to a moderate-level probe tone with continuous noise of varied sound levels, and we investigate the underlying ANF responses at the single-fiber level. Synaptopathy was induced by overexposure to octave-band noise, resulting in a permanent synaptic loss of ~50%, without permanent threshold elevation except at the highest frequencies. The normal progressive delay of ABR peaks with increasing masker level is diminished in synaptopathic ears; however, the single-fiber analysis suggests that this normal latency shift does not arise because contributing ANFs shift from low-threshold fibers (with high spontaneous rates) to high-threshold fibers (with low spontaneous rates). Rather, it may arise because of a shift in the cochlear region dominating the response. Surprisingly, the dynamic range of masking, i.e. the difference between the lowest masker level that attenuates the ABR to a fixed-level probe and the lowest masker level that eliminates the ABR, is enhanced in the synaptopathic ears. This ABR behavior mirrors the single-fiber data showing a paradoxical enhancement of onset-response synchrony and resistance to masking in responses of ANFs in the synaptopathic regions. An assay based on the dynamic range of masking could be useful in diagnosing synaptic damage in human populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirupa Suthakar
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, United States
- Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, United States
- Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
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19
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Eggink MC, Frijns JHM, Sagers JE, O'Malley JT, Liberman MC, Stankovic KM. Human vestibular schwannoma reduces density of auditory nerve fibers in the osseous spiral lamina. Hear Res 2022; 418:108458. [PMID: 35334332 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2022.108458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2021] [Accepted: 02/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Hearing loss in patients with vestibular schwannoma (VS) is commonly attributed to mechanical compression of the auditory nerve, though recent studies suggest that this retrocochlear pathology may be augmented by cochlear damage. Although VS-associated loss of inner hair cells, outer hair cells, and spiral ganglion cells has been reported, it is unclear to what extent auditory-nerve peripheral axons are damaged in VS patients. Understanding the degree of damage VSs cause to auditory nerve fibers (ANFs) is important for accurately modeling clinical outcomes of cochlear implantation, which is a therapeutic option to rehabilitate hearing in VS-affected ears. A retrospective analysis of human temporal-bone histopathology was performed on archival specimens from the Massachusetts Eye and Ear collection. Seven patients met our inclusion criteria based on the presence of sporadic, unilateral, untreated VS. Tangential sections of five cochlear regions were stained with hematoxylin and eosin, and adjacent sections were stained to visualize myelinated ANFs and efferent fibers. Following confocal microscopy, peripheral axons of ANFs within the osseous spiral lamina were quantified manually, where feasible, and with a "pixel counting" method, applicable to all sections. ANF density was substantially reduced on the VS side compared to the unaffected contralateral side. In the upper basal turn, a significant difference between the VS side and unaffected contralateral side was found using both counting methods, corresponding to the region tuned to 2000 Hz. Even spiral ganglion cells (SGCs) contralateral to VS were affected by the tumor as the majority of contralateral SGC counts were below average for age. This observation provides histological insight into the clinical observation that unilateral vestibular schwannomas pose a long-term risk of progression of hearing loss in the contralateral ear as well. Our pixel counting method for ANF quantification in the osseous spiral lamina is applicable to other pathologies involving sensorineural hearing loss. Future research is needed to classify ANFs into morphological categories, accurately predict their electrical properties, and use this knowledge to inform optimal cochlear implant programming strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maura C Eggink
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Eaton Peabody Laboratories and Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands; Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Amsterdam UMC, location Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Johan H M Frijns
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands; The Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Jessica E Sagers
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories and Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jennifer T O'Malley
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories and Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, USA
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Eaton Peabody Laboratories and Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Konstantina M Stankovic
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Eaton Peabody Laboratories and Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
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20
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Märcher-Rørsted J, Encina-Llamas G, Dau T, Liberman MC, Wu PZ, Hjortkjær J. Age-related reduction in frequency-following responses as a potential marker of cochlear neural degeneration. Hear Res 2021; 414:108411. [PMID: 34929535 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2021.108411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2021] [Revised: 12/03/2021] [Accepted: 12/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Healthy aging may be associated with neural degeneration in the cochlea even before clinical hearing loss emerges. Reduction in frequency-following responses (FFRs) to tonal carriers in older clinically normal-hearing listeners has previously been reported, and has been argued to reflect an age-dependent decline in temporal processing in the central auditory system. Alternatively, age-dependent loss of auditory nerve fibers (ANFs) may have little effect on audiometric sensitivity and yet compromise the precision of neural phase-locking relying on joint activity across populations of fibers. This peripheral loss may, in turn, contribute to reduced neural synchrony in the brainstem as reflected in the FFR. Here, we combined human electrophysiology and auditory nerve (AN) modeling to investigate whether age-related changes in the FFR would be consistent with peripheral neural degeneration. FFRs elicited by pure tones and frequency sweeps at carrier frequencies between 200 and 1200 Hz were obtained in older (ages 48-76) and younger (ages 20-30) listeners, both groups having clinically normal audiometric thresholds up to 6 kHz. The same stimuli were presented to a computational model of the AN in which age-related loss of hair cells or ANFs was modelled using human histopathological data. In the older human listeners, the measured FFRs to both sweeps and pure tones were found to be reduced across the carrier frequencies examined. These FFR reductions were consistent with model simulations of age-related ANF loss. In model simulations, the phase-locked response produced by the population of remaining fibers decreased proportionally with increasing loss of the ANFs. Basal-turn loss of inner hair cells also reduced synchronous activity at lower frequencies, albeit to a lesser degree. Model simulations of age-related threshold elevation further indicated that outer hair cell dysfunction had no negative effect on phase-locked AN responses. These results are consistent with a peripheral source of the FFR reductions observed in older normal-hearing listeners, and indicate that FFRs at lower carrier frequencies may potentially be a sensitive marker of peripheral neural degeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonatan Märcher-Rørsted
- Hearing Systems Section, Department of Health Technology, Technical University of Denmark, Ørsteds Plads, Building 352, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Gerard Encina-Llamas
- Hearing Systems Section, Department of Health Technology, Technical University of Denmark, Ørsteds Plads, Building 352, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Torsten Dau
- Hearing Systems Section, Department of Health Technology, Technical University of Denmark, Ørsteds Plads, Building 352, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories and Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114 USA
| | - Pei-Zhe Wu
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories and Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114 USA
| | - Jens Hjortkjær
- Hearing Systems Section, Department of Health Technology, Technical University of Denmark, Ørsteds Plads, Building 352, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark; Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance, Centre for Functional and Diagnostic Imaging and Research, Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre, Kettegård Allé 30, DK-2650 Hvidovre, Denmark.
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21
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Abstract
Cochlear synaptopathy is the noise-induced or age-related loss of ribbon synapses between inner hair cells (IHCs) and auditory-nerve fibers (ANFs), first reported in CBA/CaJ mice. Recordings from single ANFs in anesthetized, noise-exposed guinea pigs suggested that neurons with low spontaneous rates (SRs) and high thresholds are more vulnerable than low-threshold, high-SR fibers. However, there is extensive postexposure regeneration of ANFs in guinea pigs but not in mice. Here, we exposed CBA/CaJ mice to octave-band noise and recorded sound-evoked and spontaneous activity from single ANFs at least 2 wk later. Confocal analysis of cochleae immunostained for pre- and postsynaptic markers confirmed the expected loss of 40%-50% of ANF synapses in the basal half of the cochlea; however, our data were not consistent with a selective loss of low-SR fibers. Rather they suggested a loss of both SR groups in synaptopathic regions. Single-fiber thresholds and frequency tuning recovered to pre-exposure levels; however, response to tone bursts showed increased peak and steady-state firing rates, as well as decreased jitter in first-spike latencies. This apparent gain-of-function increased the robustness of tone-burst responses in the presence of continuous masking noise. This study suggests that the nature of noise-induced synaptic damage varies between different species and that, in mouse, the noise-induced hyperexcitability seen in central auditory circuits is also observed at the level of the auditory nerve.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Noise-induced damage to synapses between inner hair cells and auditory-nerve fibers (ANFs) can occur without permanent hair cell damage, resulting in pathophysiology that "hides" behind normal thresholds. Prior single-fiber neurophysiology in guinea pig suggested that noise selectively targets high-threshold ANFs. Here, we show that the lingering pathophysiology differs in mouse, with both ANF groups affected and a paradoxical gain-of-function in surviving low-threshold fibers, including increased onset rate, decreased onset jitter, and reduced maskability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirupa Suthakar
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts.,Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts.,Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
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22
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Hancock KE, O'Brien B, Santarelli R, Liberman MC, Maison SF. The summating potential in human electrocochleography: Gaussian models and Fourier analysis. J Acoust Soc Am 2021; 150:2492. [PMID: 34717457 PMCID: PMC8637743 DOI: 10.1121/10.0006572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2021] [Revised: 09/16/2021] [Accepted: 09/17/2021] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
In recent electrocochleographic studies, the amplitude of the summating potential (SP) was an important predictor of performance on word-recognition in difficult listening environments among normal-hearing listeners; paradoxically the SP was largest in those with the worst scores. SP has traditionally been extracted by visual inspection, a technique prone to subjectivity and error. Here, we assess the utility of a fitting algorithm [Kamerer, Neely, and Rasetshwane (2020). J Acoust Soc Am. 147, 25-31] using a summed-Gaussian model to objectify and improve SP identification. Results show that SPs extracted by visual inspection correlate better with word scores than those from the model fits. We also use fast Fourier transform to decompose these evoked responses into their spectral components to gain insight into the cellular generators of SP. We find a component at 310 Hz associated with word-identification tasks that correlates with SP amplitude. This component is absent in patients with genetic mutations affecting synaptic transmission and may reflect a contribution from excitatory post-synaptic potentials in auditory nerve fibers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth E Hancock
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School and Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye & Ear, 243 Charles Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Bennett O'Brien
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye & Ear, 243 Charles Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Rosamaria Santarelli
- Department of Neurosciences, University of Padova, Via Giustiniani 2, 35128 Padova, Italy
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School and Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye & Ear, 243 Charles Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Stéphane F Maison
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School and Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye & Ear, 243 Charles Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
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23
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Hickman TT, Hashimoto K, Liberman LD, Liberman MC. Cochlear Synaptic Degeneration and Regeneration After Noise: Effects of Age and Neuronal Subgroup. Front Cell Neurosci 2021; 15:684706. [PMID: 34434091 PMCID: PMC8380781 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2021.684706] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2021] [Accepted: 06/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
In CBA/CaJ mice, confocal analysis has shown that acoustic overexposure can immediately destroy synapses between auditory-nerve fibers (ANFs) and their peripheral targets, the inner hair cells (IHCs), and that years later, a corresponding number of ANF cell bodies degenerate. In guinea pig, post-exposure disappearance of pre-synaptic ribbons can be equally dramatic, however, post-exposure recovery to near-baseline counts has been reported. Since confocal counts are confounded by thresholding issues, the fall and rise of synaptic ribbon counts could represent “regeneration,” i.e., terminal retraction, re-extension and synaptogenesis, or “recovery,” i.e., down- and subsequent up-regulation of synaptic markers. To clarify, we counted pre-synaptic ribbons, assessed their juxtaposition with post-synaptic receptors, measured the extension of ANF terminals, and quantified the spatial organization and size gradients of these synaptic elements around the hair cell. Present results in guinea pigs exposed as adults (14 months), along with prior results in juveniles (1 month), suggest there is post-exposure neural regeneration in the guinea pig, but not the CBA/CaJ mouse, and that this regenerative capacity extends into adulthood. The results also show, for the first time, that the acute synaptic loss is concentrated on the modiolar side of IHCs, consistent with a selective loss of the high-threshold ANFs with low spontaneous rates. The morphological similarities between the post-exposure neurite extension and synaptogenesis, seen spontaneously in the guinea pig, and in CBA/CaJ only with forced overexpression of neurotrophins, suggest that the key difference may be in the degree of sustained or injury-induced expression of these signaling molecules in the cochlea.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tyler T Hickman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, United States.,Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Ken Hashimoto
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan
| | - Leslie D Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, United States
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, United States.,Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
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24
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Mepani AM, Verhulst S, Hancock KE, Garrett M, Vasilkov V, Bennett K, de Gruttola V, Liberman MC, Maison SF. Envelope following responses predict speech-in-noise performance in normal-hearing listeners. J Neurophysiol 2021; 125:1213-1222. [PMID: 33656936 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00620.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Permanent threshold elevation after noise exposure or aging is caused by loss of sensory cells; however, animal studies show that hair cell loss is often preceded by degeneration of the synapses between sensory cells and auditory nerve fibers. Silencing these neurons is likely to degrade auditory processing and may contribute to difficulties understanding speech in noisy backgrounds. Reduction of suprathreshold ABR amplitudes can be used to quantify synaptopathy in inbred mice. However, ABR amplitudes are highly variable in humans, and thus more challenging to use. Since noise-induced neuropathy preferentially targets fibers with high thresholds and low spontaneous rate and because phase locking to temporal envelopes is particularly strong in these fibers, measuring envelope following responses (EFRs) might be a more robust measure of cochlear synaptopathy. A recent auditory model further suggests that modulation of carrier tones with rectangular envelopes should be less sensitive to cochlear amplifier dysfunction and, therefore, a better metric of cochlear neural damage than sinusoidal amplitude modulation. In this study, we measure performance scores on a variety of difficult word-recognition tasks among listeners with normal audiograms and assess correlations with EFR magnitudes to rectangular versus sinusoidal modulation. Higher harmonics of EFR magnitudes evoked by a rectangular-envelope stimulus were significantly correlated with word scores, whereas those evoked by sinusoidally modulated tones did not. These results support previous reports that individual differences in synaptopathy may be a source of speech recognition variability despite the presence of normal thresholds at standard audiometric frequencies.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Recent studies suggest that millions of people may be at risk of permanent impairment from cochlear synaptopathy, the age-related and noise-induced degeneration of neural connections in the inner ear. This study examines electrophysiological responses to stimuli designed to improve detection of neural damage in subjects with normal hearing sensitivity. The resultant correlations with word recognition performance are consistent with a contribution of cochlear neural damage to deficits in hearing in noise abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anita M Mepani
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Sarah Verhulst
- Department of Information Technology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Kenneth E Hancock
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts.,Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Markus Garrett
- Department of Information Technology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.,Department of Medical Physics and Acoustics, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
| | | | - Kara Bennett
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Victor de Gruttola
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts.,Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.,Harvard Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Stéphane F Maison
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts.,Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.,Harvard Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts
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25
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Mackey CA, McCrate J, MacDonald KS, Feller J, Liberman L, Liberman MC, Hackett TA, Ramachandran R. Correlations between cochlear pathophysiology and behavioral measures of temporal and spatial processing in noise exposed macaques. Hear Res 2021; 401:108156. [PMID: 33373804 PMCID: PMC8487072 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2020.108156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2020] [Revised: 12/10/2020] [Accepted: 12/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is known to have significant consequences for temporal, spectral, and spatial resolution. However, much remains to be discovered about their underlying pathophysiology. This report extends the recent development of a nonhuman primate model of NIHL to explore its consequences for hearing in noisy environments, and its correlations with the underlying cochlear pathology. Ten macaques (seven with normal-hearing, three with NIHL) were used in studies of masked tone detection in which the temporal or spatial properties of the masker were varied to assess metrics of temporal and spatial processing. Normal-hearing (NH) macaques showed lower tone detection thresholds for sinusoidally amplitude modulated (SAM) broadband noise maskers relative to unmodulated maskers (modulation masking release, MMR). Tone detection thresholds were lowest at low noise modulation frequencies, and increased as modulation frequency increased, until they matched threshold in unmodulated noise. NH macaques also showed lower tone detection thresholds for spatially separated tone and noise relative to co-localized tone and noise (spatial release from masking, SRM). Noise exposure caused permanent threshold shifts that were verified behaviorally and audiologically. In hearing-impaired (HI) macaques, MMR was reduced at tone frequencies above that of the noise exposure. HI macaques also showed degraded SRM, with no SRM observed across all tested tone frequencies. Deficits in MMR correlated with audiometric threshold changes, outer hair cell loss, and synapse loss, while the differences in SRM did not correlate with audiometric changes, or any measure of cochlear pathophysiology. This difference in anatomical-behavioral correlations suggests that while many behavioral deficits may arise from cochlear pathology, only some are predictable from the frequency place of damage in the cochlea.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chase A Mackey
- Vanderbilt Neuroscience Graduate Program, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37212, United States.
| | - Jennifer McCrate
- Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience for Undergraduates, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37240, United States.
| | - Kaitlyn S MacDonald
- Vanderbilt Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, United States.
| | - Jessica Feller
- Vanderbilt Neuroscience Graduate Program, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37212, United States.
| | - Leslie Liberman
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary & Harvard Medical Center, Boston, MA 02114, United States.
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary & Harvard Medical Center, Boston, MA 02114, United States.
| | - Troy A Hackett
- Vanderbilt Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, United States.
| | - Ramnarayan Ramachandran
- Vanderbilt Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, United States.
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26
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Grant KJ, Mepani AM, Wu P, Hancock KE, de Gruttola V, Liberman MC, Maison SF. Electrophysiological markers of cochlear function correlate with hearing-in-noise performance among audiometrically normal subjects. J Neurophysiol 2020; 124:418-431. [PMID: 32639924 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00016.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Hearing loss caused by noise exposure, ototoxic drugs, or aging results from the loss of sensory cells, as reflected in audiometric threshold elevation. Animal studies show that loss of hair cells can be preceded by loss of auditory-nerve peripheral synapses, which likely degrades auditory processing. While this condition, known as cochlear synaptopathy, can be diagnosed in mice by a reduction of suprathreshold cochlear neural responses, its diagnosis in humans remains challenging. To look for evidence of cochlear nerve damage in normal hearing subjects, we measured their word recognition performance in difficult listening environments and compared it to cochlear function as assessed by otoacoustic emissions and click-evoked electrocochleography. Several electrocochleographic markers were correlated with word scores, whereas distortion product otoacoustic emissions were not. Specifically, the summating potential (SP) was larger and the cochlear nerve action potential (AP) was smaller in those with the worst word scores. Adding a forward masker or increasing stimulus rate reduced SP in the worst performers, suggesting that this potential includes postsynaptic components as well as hair cell receptor potentials. Results suggests that some of the variance in word scores among listeners with normal audiometric threshold arises from cochlear neural damage.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Recent animal studies suggest that millions of people may be at risk of permanent impairment from cochlear synaptopathy, the age-related and noise-induced degeneration of neural connections in the inner ear that "hides" behind a normal audiogram. This study examines electrophysiological responses to clicks in a large cohort of subjects with normal hearing sensitivity. The resultant correlations with word recognition performance are consistent with an important contribution cochlear neural damage to deficits in hearing in noise abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelsie J Grant
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Anita M Mepani
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Peizhe Wu
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts.,Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Kenneth E Hancock
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts.,Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Victor de Gruttola
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts.,Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.,Harvard Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Stéphane F Maison
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts.,Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.,Harvard Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
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27
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Fernandez KA, Guo D, Micucci S, De Gruttola V, Liberman MC, Kujawa SG. Noise-induced Cochlear Synaptopathy with and Without Sensory Cell Loss. Neuroscience 2019; 427:43-57. [PMID: 31887361 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2019.11.051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 79] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2019] [Revised: 11/28/2019] [Accepted: 11/29/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Prior work has provided extensive documentation of threshold sensitivity and sensory hair cell losses after noise exposure. It is now clear, however, that cochlear synaptic loss precedes such losses, at least at low-moderate noise doses, silencing affected neurons. To address questions of whether, and how, cochlear synaptopathy and underlying mechanisms change as noise dose is varied, we assessed cochlear physiologic and histologic consequences of a range of exposures varied in duration from 15 min to 8 h and in level from 85 to 112 dB SPL. Exposures delivered to adult CBA/CaJ mice produced acute elevations in hair cell- and neural-based response thresholds ranging from trivial (∼5 dB) to large (∼50 dB), followed by varying degrees of recovery. Males appeared more noise vulnerable for some conditions of exposure. There was little to no inner hair cell (IHC) loss, but outer hair cell (OHC) loss could be substantial at highest frequencies for highest noise doses. Synapse loss was an early manifestation of noise injury and did not scale directly with either temporary or permanent threshold shift. With increasing noise dose, synapse loss grew to ∼50%, then declined for exposures yielding permanent hair cell injury/loss. All synaptopathic, but no non-synaptopathic exposures produced persistent neural response amplitude declines; those additionally yielding permanent OHC injury/loss also produced persistent reductions in OHC-based responses and exaggerated neural amplitude declines. Findings show that widespread cochlear synaptopathy can be present with and without noise-induced sensory cell loss and that differing patterns of cellular injury influence synaptopathic outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katharine A Fernandez
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye & Ear, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Dan Guo
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye & Ear, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Steven Micucci
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye & Ear, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Victor De Gruttola
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye & Ear, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Sharon G Kujawa
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye & Ear, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
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28
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Hashimoto K, Hickman TT, Suzuki J, Ji L, Kohrman DC, Corfas G, Liberman MC. Protection from noise-induced cochlear synaptopathy by virally mediated overexpression of NT3. Sci Rep 2019; 9:15362. [PMID: 31653916 PMCID: PMC6814859 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-51724-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2019] [Accepted: 09/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Noise exposures causing only transient threshold shifts can destroy auditory-nerve synapses without damaging hair cells. Here, we asked whether virally mediated neurotrophin3 (NT3) overexpression can repair this damage. CBA/CaJ mice at 6 wks were injected unilaterally with adeno-associated virus (AAV) containing either NT3 or GFP genes, via the posterior semicircular canal, 3 wks prior to, or 5 hrs after, noise exposure. Controls included exposed animals receiving vehicle only, and unexposed animals receiving virus. Thresholds were measured 2 wks post-exposure, just before cochleas were harvested for histological analysis. In separate virus-injected animals, unexposed cochleas were extracted for qRT-PCR. The GFP reporter showed that inner hair cells (IHCs) were transfected throughout the cochlea, and outer hair cells mainly in the apex. qRT-PCR showed 4- to 10-fold overexpression of NT3 from 1–21 days post-injection, and 1.7-fold overexpression at 40 days. AAV-NT3 delivered prior to noise exposure produced a dose-dependent reduction of synaptopathy, with nearly complete rescue at some cochlear locations. In unexposed ears, NT3 overexpression did not affect thresholds, however GFP overexpression caused IHC loss. In exposed ears, NT3 overexpression increased permanent threshold shifts. Thus, although NT3 overexpression can minimize noise-induced synaptic damage, the forced overexpression may be harmful to hair cells themselves during cochlear overstimulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ken Hashimoto
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye & Ear, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
| | - Tyler T Hickman
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. .,Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye & Ear, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Jun Suzuki
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye & Ear, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
| | - Lingchao Ji
- Kresge Hearing Research Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.,Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - David C Kohrman
- Kresge Hearing Research Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.,Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Gabriel Corfas
- Kresge Hearing Research Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.,Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye & Ear, Boston, MA, USA
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29
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Meenderink SWF, Shera CA, Valero MD, Liberman MC, Abdala C. Morphological Immaturity of the Neonatal Organ of Corti and Associated Structures in Humans. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol 2019; 20:461-474. [PMID: 31407107 PMCID: PMC6797686 DOI: 10.1007/s10162-019-00734-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2019] [Accepted: 07/18/2019] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Although anatomical development of the cochlear duct is thought to be complete by term birth, human newborns continue to show postnatal immaturities in functional measures such as otoacoustic emissions (OAEs). Some of these OAE immaturities are no doubt influenced by incomplete maturation of the external and middle ears in infants; however, the observed prolongation of distortion-product OAE phase-gradient delays in newborns cannot readily be explained by conductive factors. This functional immaturity suggests that the human cochlea at birth may lack fully adult-like traveling-wave motion. In this study, we analyzed temporal-bone sections at the light microscopic level in newborns and adults to quantify dimensions and geometry of cochlear structures thought to influence the mechanical response of the cochlea. Contrary to common belief, results show multiple morphological immaturities along the length of the newborn spiral, suggesting that important refinements in the size and shape of the sensory epithelium and associated structures continue after birth. Specifically, immaturities of the newborn basilar membrane and organ of Corti are consistent with a more compliant and less massive cochlear partition, which could produce longer DPOAE delays and a shifted frequency-place map in the neonatal ear.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastiaan W F Meenderink
- Auditory Research Center, Caruso Department of Otolaryngology, University of Southern California, 1640 Marengo Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA
| | - Christopher A Shera
- Auditory Research Center, Caruso Department of Otolaryngology, University of Southern California, 1640 Marengo Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA
| | - Michelle D Valero
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, 243 Charles Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, 243 Charles Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Carolina Abdala
- Auditory Research Center, Caruso Department of Otolaryngology, University of Southern California, 1640 Marengo Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA.
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30
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Suthakar K, Liberman MC. A simple algorithm for objective threshold determination of auditory brainstem responses. Hear Res 2019; 381:107782. [PMID: 31437652 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2019.107782] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2019] [Revised: 07/05/2019] [Accepted: 08/06/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
The auditory brainstem response (ABR) is a sound-evoked neural response commonly used to assess auditory function in humans and laboratory animals. ABR thresholds are typically chosen by visual inspection, leaving the procedure susceptible to user bias. We sought to develop an algorithm to automate determination of ABR thresholds to eliminate such biases and to standardize approaches across investigators and laboratories. Two datasets of mouse ABR waveforms obtained from previously published studies of normal ears as well as ears with varying degrees of cochlear-based threshold elevations (Maison et al., 2013; Sergeyenko et al., 2013) were reanalyzed using an algorithm based on normalized cross-covariation of adjacent level presentations. Correlation-coefficient vs. level data for each ABR level series were fit with both a sigmoidal and two-term power function. From these fits, threshold was interpolated at different criterion values of correlation-coefficient ranging from 0 to 0.5. The criterion value of 0.35 was selected by comparing visual thresholds to computed thresholds across all frequencies tested. With such a criterion, the mean algorithm-computed thresholds were comparable to the visual thresholds noted by two independent observers for each data set. The success of the algorithm was also qualitatively assessed by comparing averaged waveforms at the thresholds determined by the two methods, and quantitatively assessed by comparing peak 1 amplitude growth functions expressed as dB re each of the two threshold measures. Application of a cross-covariance analysis to ABR waveforms can emulate visual thresholding decisions made by highly trained observers. Unlike previous applications of similar methodologies using template matching, our algorithm performs only intrinsic comparisons within ABR sets, and therefore is more robust to equipment and investigator differences in assessing waveforms, as evidenced by similar results across the two datasets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirupa Suthakar
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA; Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, 02114, USA; Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
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31
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Currall BB, Chen M, Sallari RC, Cotter M, Wong KE, Robertson NG, Penney KL, Lunardi A, Reschke M, Hickox AE, Yin Y, Wong GT, Fung J, Brown KK, Williamson RE, Sinnott-Armstrong NA, Kammin T, Ivanov A, Zepeda-Mendoza CJ, Shen J, Quade BJ, Signoretti S, Arnos KS, Banks AS, Patsopoulos N, Liberman MC, Kellis M, Pandolfi PP, Morton CC. Corrigendum: Loss of LDAH associated with prostate cancer and hearing loss. Hum Mol Genet 2019; 28:1753-1754. [PMID: 31222336 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddz036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2018] [Revised: 08/27/2018] [Accepted: 08/29/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin B Currall
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Ming Chen
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Cancer Research Institute, Department of Medicine and Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Richard C Sallari
- Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Maura Cotter
- Center for Molecular Oncologic Pathology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kristen E Wong
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Nahid G Robertson
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kathryn L Penney
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Andrea Lunardi
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Cancer Research Institute, Department of Medicine and Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Markus Reschke
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Cancer Research Institute, Department of Medicine and Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Ann E Hickox
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Eaton-Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Yanbo Yin
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Garrett T Wong
- Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jacqueline Fung
- Cancer Research Institute, Department of Medicine and Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kerry K Brown
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Nicholas A Sinnott-Armstrong
- Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Tammy Kammin
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Andrew Ivanov
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Cinthya J Zepeda-Mendoza
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jun Shen
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,Laboratory for Molecular Medicine, Partners HealthCare Personalized Medicine, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Harvard Medical School Center for Hereditary Deafness, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Bradley J Quade
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Sabina Signoretti
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kathleen S Arnos
- Department of Science, Technology, & Mathematics, Gallaudet University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Alexander S Banks
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Hypertension, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston MA, USA
| | - Nikolaos Patsopoulos
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Eaton-Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Manolis Kellis
- Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Pier Paolo Pandolfi
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Cancer Research Institute, Department of Medicine and Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Cynthia C Morton
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,Harvard Medical School Center for Hereditary Deafness, Boston, MA, USA.,Division of Evolution and Genomic Sciences, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9NT, UK
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32
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Currall BB, Chen M, Sallari RC, Cotter M, Wong KE, Robertson NG, Penney KL, Lunardi A, Reschke M, Hickox AE, Yin Y, Wong GT, Fung J, Brown KK, Williamson RE, Sinnott-Armstrong NA, Kammin T, Ivanov A, Zepeda-Mendoza CJ, Shen J, Quade BJ, Signoretti S, Arnos KS, Banks AS, Patsopoulos N, Liberman MC, Kellis M, Pandolfi PP, Morton CC. Loss of LDAH associated with prostate cancer and hearing loss. Hum Mol Genet 2019; 27:4194-4203. [PMID: 30169630 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddy310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2018] [Accepted: 08/29/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Great strides in gene discovery have been made using a multitude of methods to associate phenotypes with genetic variants, but there still remains a substantial gap between observed symptoms and identified genetic defects. Herein, we use the convergence of various genetic and genomic techniques to investigate the underpinnings of a constellation of phenotypes that include prostate cancer (PCa) and sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) in a human subject. Through interrogation of the subject's de novo, germline, balanced chromosomal translocation, we first identify a correlation between his disorders and a poorly annotated gene known as lipid droplet associated hydrolase (LDAH). Using data repositories of both germline and somatic variants, we identify convergent genomic evidence that substantiates a correlation between loss of LDAH and PCa. This correlation is validated through both in vitro and in vivo models that show loss of LDAH results in increased risk of PCa and, to a lesser extent, SNHL. By leveraging convergent evidence in emerging genomic data, we hypothesize that loss of LDAH is involved in PCa and other phenotypes observed in support of a genotype-phenotype association in an n-of-one human subject.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin B Currall
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Ming Chen
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Cancer Research Institute, Department of Medicine and Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Richard C Sallari
- Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Maura Cotter
- Center for Molecular Oncologic Pathology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kristen E Wong
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Nahid G Robertson
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kathryn L Penney
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Andrea Lunardi
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Cancer Research Institute, Department of Medicine and Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Markus Reschke
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Cancer Research Institute, Department of Medicine and Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Ann E Hickox
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Eaton-Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Yanbo Yin
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Garrett T Wong
- Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jacqueline Fung
- Cancer Research Institute, Department of Medicine and Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kerry K Brown
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Nicholas A Sinnott-Armstrong
- Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Tammy Kammin
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Andrew Ivanov
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Cinthya J Zepeda-Mendoza
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jun Shen
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,Laboratory for Molecular Medicine, Partners HealthCare Personalized Medicine, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Harvard Medical School Center for Hereditary Deafness, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Bradley J Quade
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Sabina Signoretti
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kathleen S Arnos
- Department of Science, Technology, & Mathematics, Gallaudet University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Alexander S Banks
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Hypertension, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston MA, USA
| | - Nikolaos Patsopoulos
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Eaton-Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Manolis Kellis
- Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Pier Paolo Pandolfi
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Cancer Research Institute, Department of Medicine and Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Cynthia C Morton
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,Harvard Medical School Center for Hereditary Deafness, Boston, MA, USA.,Division of Evolution and Genomic Sciences, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
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33
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Wu PZ, Wen WP, O'Malley JT, Liberman MC. Assessing fractional hair cell survival in archival human temporal bones. Laryngoscope 2019; 130:487-495. [PMID: 30963586 DOI: 10.1002/lary.27991] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2019] [Revised: 03/14/2019] [Accepted: 03/20/2019] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS Histopathological analysis of hair cell survival in human temporal bone sections has historically been binarized such that each hair cell row is rated as either present or absent, thereby greatly underestimating the amount of hair cell loss. Here, we describe and validate a technique to reliably assess fractional hair cell survival in archival sections stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) using high-resolution light microscopy and optical sectioning. STUDY DESIGN Technique validation. METHODS Hair cell counts in archival temporal bone slide sets were performed by several observers using either differential interference contrast (DIC) or confocal microscopy of the endogenous eosin fluorescence in hair cells. As a further cross-check, additional decelloidinized sections were immunostained with hair cell markers myosin VI and VIIa. RESULTS Cuticular plates and stereocilia bundles are routinely resolvable in DIC imaging of archival H&E-stained human material using standard research-grade microscopes, allowing highly accurate counts of fractional hair cell survival that are reproducible across observer and can be verified by confocal microscopy. CONCLUSIONS Reanalysis of cases from the classic temporal bone literature on presbycusis suggests that, contrary to prior reports, differences in audiometric patterns may be well explained by the patterns of hair cell loss. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE NA Laryngoscope, 130:487-495, 2020.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pei-Zhe Wu
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts.,Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.,Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Wei-Ping Wen
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jennifer T O'Malley
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts.,Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
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34
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Eckhard AH, Zhu M, O'Malley JT, Williams GH, Loffing J, Rauch SD, Nadol JB, Liberman MC, Adams JC. Inner ear pathologies impair sodium-regulated ion transport in Meniere's disease. Acta Neuropathol 2019; 137:343-357. [PMID: 30390121 PMCID: PMC6513907 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-018-1927-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2018] [Revised: 10/26/2018] [Accepted: 10/26/2018] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Meniere's disease (MD), a syndromal inner ear disease, is commonly associated with a pathological accumulation of endolymphatic fluid in the inner ear, termed "idiopathic" endolymphatic hydrops (iEH). Although numerous precipitating/exacerbating factors have been proposed for MD, its etiology remains elusive. Here, using immunohistochemistry and in situ protein-protein interaction detection assays, we demonstrate mineralocorticoid-controlled sodium transport mechanisms in the epithelium of the extraosseous portion of the endolymphatic sac (eES) in the murine and human inner ears. Histological analysis of the eES in an extensive series of human temporal bones consistently revealed pathological changes in the eES in cases with iEH and a clinical history of MD, but no such changes were found in cases with "secondary" EH due to other otological diseases or in healthy controls. Notably, two etiologically different pathologies-degeneration and developmental hypoplasia-that selectively affect the eES in MD were distinguished. Clinical records from MD cases with degenerative and hypoplastic eES pathology revealed distinct intergroup differences in clinical disease presentation. Overall, we have identified for the first time two inner ear pathologies that are consistently present in MD and can be directly linked to the pathogenesis of EH, and which potentially affect the phenotypical presentation of MD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas H Eckhard
- Otopathology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA.
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital Zurich, Frauenklinikstrasse 24, 8091, Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - MengYu Zhu
- Otopathology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jennifer T O'Malley
- Otopathology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Gordon H Williams
- Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Hypertension, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Steven D Rauch
- Otopathology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Vestibular Division, Department of Otolaryngology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, USA
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Joe B Nadol
- Otopathology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Joe C Adams
- Otopathology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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35
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Shaheen LA, Liberman MC. Cochlear Synaptopathy Changes Sound-Evoked Activity Without Changing Spontaneous Discharge in the Mouse Inferior Colliculus. Front Syst Neurosci 2018; 12:59. [PMID: 30559652 PMCID: PMC6286982 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2018.00059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2018] [Accepted: 10/26/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Tinnitus and hyperacusis are life-disrupting perceptual abnormalities that are often preceded by acoustic overexposure. Animal models of overexposure have suggested a link between these phenomena and neural hyperactivity, i.e., elevated spontaneous rates (SRs) and sound-evoked responses. Prior work has focused on changes in central auditory responses, with less attention paid to the exact nature of the associated cochlear damage. The demonstration that acoustic overexposure can cause cochlear neuropathy without permanent threshold elevation suggests cochlear neuropathy per se may be a key elicitor of neural hyperactivity. We addressed this hypothesis by recording responses in the mouse inferior colliculus (IC) following a bilateral, neuropathic noise exposure. One to three weeks post-exposure, mean SRs were unchanged in mice recorded while awake, or under anesthesia. SRs were also unaffected by more intense, or unilateral exposures. These results suggest that neither neuropathy nor hair cell loss are sufficient to raise SRs in the IC, at least in 7-week-old mice, 1-3 weeks post exposure. However, it is not clear whether our mice had tinnitus. Tone-evoked rate-level functions at the CF were steeper following exposure, specifically in the region of maximal neuropathy. Furthermore, suppression driven by off-CF tones and by ipsilateral noise were reduced. Both changes were especially pronounced in neurons of awake mice. This neural hypersensitivity may manifest as behavioral hypersensitivity to sound - prior work reports that this same exposure causes elevated acoustic startle. Together, these results indicate that neuropathy may initiate a compensatory response in the central auditory system leading to the genesis of hyperacusis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luke A. Shaheen
- Oregon Hearing Research Center, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, United States
| | - M. Charles Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, United States
- Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
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36
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Heeringa AN, Wu C, Chung C, West M, Martel D, Liberman L, Liberman MC, Shore SE. Glutamatergic Projections to the Cochlear Nucleus are Redistributed in Tinnitus. Neuroscience 2018; 391:91-103. [PMID: 30236972 PMCID: PMC6191338 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2018.09.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2018] [Revised: 08/30/2018] [Accepted: 09/03/2018] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Tinnitus alters auditory-somatosensory plasticity in the cochlear nucleus (CN). Correspondingly, bimodal auditory-somatosensory stimulation treatment attenuates tinnitus, both in animals and humans (Marks et al., 2018). Therefore, we hypothesized that tinnitus is associated with altered somatosensory innervation of the CN. Here, we studied the expression of vesicular glutamate transporters 1 and 2 (VGLUT1 and VGLUT2) in the CN, which reveals glutamatergic projections from the cochlea as well as somatosensory systems to this brainstem auditory center. Guinea pigs were unilaterally exposed to narrowband noise and behaviorally tested for tinnitus using gap-prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle. Following physiological and behavioral measures, brain sections were immunohistochemically stained for VGLUT1 or VGLUT2. Puncta density was determined for each region of the ipsilateral and contralateral CN. Tinnitus was associated with an ipsilateral upregulation of VGLUT2 puncta density in the granule cell domain (GCD) and anteroventral CN (AVCN). Furthermore, there was a tinnitus-associated interaural asymmetry for VGLUT1 expression in the AVCN and deep layer of the dorsal CN (DCN3), due to contralateral downregulation of VGLUT1 expression. These tinnitus-related glutamatergic imbalances were reversed upon bimodal stimulation treatment. Tinnitus-associated ipsilateral upregulation of VGLUT2-positive projections likely derives from somatosensory projections to the GCD and AVCN. This upregulation may underlie the neurophysiological hallmarks of tinnitus in the CN. Reversing the increased ipsilateral glutamatergic innervation in the CN is likely a key mechanism in treating tinnitus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amarins N Heeringa
- Kresge Hearing Research Institute, Otolaryngology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA
| | - Calvin Wu
- Kresge Hearing Research Institute, Otolaryngology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA
| | - Christopher Chung
- Kresge Hearing Research Institute, Otolaryngology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA
| | - Michael West
- Kresge Hearing Research Institute, Otolaryngology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA
| | - David Martel
- Kresge Hearing Research Institute, Otolaryngology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA
| | - Leslie Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Susan E Shore
- Kresge Hearing Research Institute, Otolaryngology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA.
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37
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Wu PZ, Liberman LD, Bennett K, de Gruttola V, O'Malley JT, Liberman MC. Primary Neural Degeneration in the Human Cochlea: Evidence for Hidden Hearing Loss in the Aging Ear. Neuroscience 2018; 407:8-20. [PMID: 30099118 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2018.07.053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 211] [Impact Index Per Article: 35.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2018] [Revised: 07/25/2018] [Accepted: 07/30/2018] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
The noise-induced and age-related loss of synaptic connections between auditory-nerve fibers and cochlear hair cells is well-established from histopathology in several mammalian species; however, its prevalence in humans, as inferred from electrophysiological measures, remains controversial. Here we look for cochlear neuropathy in a temporal-bone study of "normal-aging" humans, using autopsy material from 20 subjects aged 0-89 yrs, with no history of otologic disease. Cochleas were immunostained to allow accurate quantification of surviving hair cells in the organ Corti and peripheral axons of auditory-nerve fibers. Mean loss of outer hair cells was 30-40% throughout the audiometric frequency range (0.25-8.0 kHz) in subjects over 60 yrs, with even greater losses at both apical (low-frequency) and basal (high-frequency) ends. In contrast, mean inner hair cell loss across audiometric frequencies was rarely >15%, at any age. Neural loss greatly exceeded inner hair cell loss, with 7/11 subjects over 60 yrs showing >60% loss of peripheral axons re the youngest subjects, and with the age-related slope of axonal loss outstripping the age-related loss of inner hair cells by almost 3:1. The results suggest that a large number of auditory neurons in the aging ear are disconnected from their hair cell targets. This primary neural degeneration would not affect the audiogram, but likely contributes to age-related hearing impairment, especially in noisy environments. Thus, therapies designed to regrow peripheral axons could provide clinically meaningful improvement in the aged ear.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Z Wu
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China
| | - L D Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - K Bennett
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - V de Gruttola
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - J T O'Malley
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - M C Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
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38
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Shrestha BR, Chia C, Wu L, Kujawa SG, Liberman MC, Goodrich LV. Sensory Neuron Diversity in the Inner Ear Is Shaped by Activity. Cell 2018; 174:1229-1246.e17. [PMID: 30078709 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2018.07.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 234] [Impact Index Per Article: 39.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2018] [Revised: 04/23/2018] [Accepted: 07/02/2018] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
In the auditory system, type I spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs) convey complex acoustic information from inner hair cells (IHCs) to the brainstem. Although SGNs exhibit variation in physiological and anatomical properties, it is unclear which features are endogenous and which reflect input from synaptic partners. Using single-cell RNA sequencing, we derived a molecular classification of mouse type I SGNs comprising three subtypes that express unique combinations of Ca2+ binding proteins, ion channel regulators, guidance molecules, and transcription factors. Based on connectivity and susceptibility to age-related loss, these subtypes correspond to those defined physiologically. Additional intrinsic differences among subtypes and across the tonotopic axis highlight an unexpectedly active role for SGNs in auditory processing. SGN identities emerge postnatally and are disrupted in a mouse model of deafness that lacks IHC-driven activity. These results elucidate the range, nature, and origins of SGN diversity, with implications for treatment of congenital deafness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brikha R Shrestha
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Chester Chia
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Lorna Wu
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Sharon G Kujawa
- Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Lisa V Goodrich
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
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39
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Valero MD, Hancock KE, Maison SF, Liberman MC. Effects of cochlear synaptopathy on middle-ear muscle reflexes in unanesthetized mice. Hear Res 2018; 363:109-118. [PMID: 29598837 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2018.03.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2017] [Revised: 02/20/2018] [Accepted: 03/09/2018] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
Cochlear synaptopathy, i.e. the loss of auditory-nerve connections with cochlear hair cells, is seen in aging, noise damage, and other types of acquired sensorineural hearing loss. Because the subset of auditory-nerve fibers with high thresholds and low spontaneous rates (SRs) is disproportionately affected, audiometric thresholds are relatively insensitive to this primary neural degeneration. Although suprathreshold amplitudes of wave I of the auditory brainstem response (ABR) are attenuated in synaptopathic mice, there is not yet a robust diagnostic in humans. The middle-ear muscle reflex (MEMR) might be a sensitive metric (Valero et al., 2016), because low-SR fibers may be important drivers of the MEMR (Liberman and Kiang, 1984; Kobler et al., 1992). Here, to test the hypothesis that narrowband reflex elicitors can identify synaptopathic cochlear regions, we measured reflex growth functions in unanesthetized mice with varying degrees of noise-induced synaptopathy and in unexposed controls. To separate effects of the MEMR from those of the medial olivocochlear reflex, the other sound-evoked cochlear feedback loop, we used a mutant mouse strain with deletion of the acetylcholine receptor required for olivocochlear function. We demonstrate that the MEMR is normal when activated from non-synaptopathic cochlear regions, is greatly weakened in synaptopathic regions, and is a more sensitive indicator of moderate synaptopathy than the suprathreshold amplitude of ABR wave I.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle D Valero
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
| | - Kenneth E Hancock
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Stéphane F Maison
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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40
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Gao X, Tao Y, Lamas V, Huang M, Yeh WH, Pan B, Hu YJ, Hu JH, Thompson DB, Shu Y, Li Y, Wang H, Yang S, Xu Q, Polley DB, Liberman MC, Kong WJ, Holt JR, Chen ZY, Liu DR. Treatment of autosomal dominant hearing loss by in vivo delivery of genome editing agents. Nature 2017; 553:217-221. [PMID: 29258297 PMCID: PMC5784267 DOI: 10.1038/nature25164] [Citation(s) in RCA: 345] [Impact Index Per Article: 49.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2017] [Accepted: 11/24/2017] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Although genetic factors contribute to almost half of all deafness cases,
treatment options for genetic deafness are limited1–5. We developed a genome editing approach to target a
dominantly inherited form of genetic deafness. Here we show that cationic
lipid-mediated in vivo delivery of Cas9:guide RNA complexes can
ameliorate hearing loss in a mouse model of human genetic deafness. We designed
and validated in vitro and in primary fibroblasts genome
editing agents that preferentially disrupt the dominant deafness-associated
allele in the Tmc1 (transmembrane channel-like 1) Beethoven
(Bth) mouse model, even though the mutant
Bth allele differs from the wild-type allele at only a
single base pair. Injection of Cas9:guide RNA:lipid complexes targeting the
Bth allele into the cochlea of neonatal
Bth/+ mice substantially reduced progressive
hearing loss. We observed higher hair cell survival rates and lower auditory
brainstem response (ABR) thresholds in injected ears compared with uninjected
ears or ears injected with complexes that target an unrelated gene. Enhanced
acoustic reflex responses were observed among injected compared to uninjected
Bth/+ animals. These findings suggest protein:RNA
complex delivery of target gene-disrupting agents in vivo as a
potential strategy for the treatment of some autosomal dominant hearing loss
diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xue Gao
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.,Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02141, USA
| | - Yong Tao
- Department of Otolaryngology and Program in Neuroscience, Harvard Medical School and Eaton Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA.,Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430022, China
| | - Veronica Lamas
- Department of Otolaryngology and Program in Neuroscience, Harvard Medical School and Eaton Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA
| | - Mingqian Huang
- Department of Otolaryngology and Program in Neuroscience, Harvard Medical School and Eaton Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA
| | - Wei-Hsi Yeh
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.,Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02141, USA.,Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
| | - Bifeng Pan
- Departments of Otolaryngology and Neurology, F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Yu-Juan Hu
- Department of Otolaryngology and Program in Neuroscience, Harvard Medical School and Eaton Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA.,Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430022, China
| | - Johnny H Hu
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.,Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02141, USA
| | - David B Thompson
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
| | - Yilai Shu
- Department of Otolaryngology and Program in Neuroscience, Harvard Medical School and Eaton Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA.,Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Eye and ENT Hospital, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yamin Li
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, USA
| | - Hongyang Wang
- Department of Otolaryngology and Program in Neuroscience, Harvard Medical School and Eaton Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA.,Department of Otolaryngology & Head Neck Surgery, Key Lab of Hearing Impairment Science of Ministry of Education, Key Lab of Hearing Impairment Prevention and Treatment of Beijing City, Chinese PLA Medical School, Beijing, China
| | - Shiming Yang
- Department of Otolaryngology & Head Neck Surgery, Key Lab of Hearing Impairment Science of Ministry of Education, Key Lab of Hearing Impairment Prevention and Treatment of Beijing City, Chinese PLA Medical School, Beijing, China
| | - Qiaobing Xu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, USA
| | - Daniel B Polley
- Department of Otolaryngology and Program in Neuroscience, Harvard Medical School and Eaton Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Department of Otolaryngology and Program in Neuroscience, Harvard Medical School and Eaton Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA
| | - Wei-Jia Kong
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430022, China
| | - Jeffrey R Holt
- Departments of Otolaryngology and Neurology, F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Zheng-Yi Chen
- Department of Otolaryngology and Program in Neuroscience, Harvard Medical School and Eaton Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA
| | - David R Liu
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.,Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02141, USA
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Valero MD, Burton JA, Hauser SN, Hackett TA, Ramachandran R, Liberman MC. Noise-induced cochlear synaptopathy in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Hear Res 2017; 353:213-223. [PMID: 28712672 PMCID: PMC5632522 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2017.07.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 144] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2017] [Revised: 06/02/2017] [Accepted: 07/06/2017] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Cochlear synaptopathy can result from various insults, including acoustic trauma, aging, ototoxicity, or chronic conductive hearing loss. For example, moderate noise exposure in mice can destroy up to ∼50% of synapses between auditory nerve fibers (ANFs) and inner hair cells (IHCs) without affecting outer hair cells (OHCs) or thresholds, because the synaptopathy occurs first in high-threshold ANFs. However, the fiber loss likely impairs temporal processing and hearing-in-noise, a classic complaint of those with sensorineural hearing loss. Non-human primates appear to be less vulnerable to noise-induced hair-cell loss than rodents, but their susceptibility to synaptopathy has not been studied. Because establishing a non-human primate model may be important in the development of diagnostics and therapeutics, we examined cochlear innervation and the damaging effects of acoustic overexposure in young adult rhesus macaques. Anesthetized animals were exposed bilaterally to narrow-band noise centered at 2 kHz at various sound-pressure levels for 4 h. Cochlear function was assayed for up to 8 weeks following exposure via auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) and otoacoustic emissions (OAEs). A moderate loss of synaptic connections (mean of 12-27% in the basal half of the cochlea) followed temporary threshold shifts (TTS), despite minimal hair-cell loss. A dramatic loss of synapses (mean of 50-75% in the basal half of the cochlea) was seen on IHCs surviving noise exposures that produced permanent threshold shifts (PTS) and widespread hair-cell loss. Higher noise levels were required to produce PTS in macaques compared to rodents, suggesting that primates are less vulnerable to hair-cell loss. However, the phenomenon of noise-induced cochlear synaptopathy in primates is similar to that seen in rodents.
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Affiliation(s)
- M D Valero
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
| | - J A Burton
- Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Dept. of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - S N Hauser
- Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Dept. of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - T A Hackett
- Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Dept. of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - R Ramachandran
- Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Dept. of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - M C Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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Abstract
The classic view of sensorineural hearing loss has been that the primary damage targets are hair cells and that auditory nerve loss is typically secondary to hair cell degeneration. Recent work has challenged that view. In noise-induced hearing loss, exposures causing only reversible threshold shifts (and no hair cell loss) nevertheless cause permanent loss of >50% of the synaptic connections between hair cells and the auditory nerve. Similarly, in age-related hearing loss, degeneration of cochlear synapses precedes both hair cell loss and threshold elevation. This primary neural degeneration has remained a "hidden hearing loss" for two reasons: 1) the neuronal cell bodies survive for years despite loss of synaptic connection with hair cells, and 2) the degeneration is selective for auditory nerve fibers with high thresholds. Although not required for threshold detection when quiet, these high-threshold fibers are critical for hearing in noisy environments. Research suggests that primary neural degeneration is an important contributor to the perceptual handicap in sensorineural hearing loss, and it may be key to the generation of tinnitus and other associated perceptual anomalies. In cases where the hair cells survive, neurotrophin therapies can elicit neurite outgrowth from surviving auditory neurons and re-establishment of their peripheral synapses; thus, treatments may be on the horizon.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Charles Liberman
- Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Eaton Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, 243 Charles St., Boston, MA, 02114, USA
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43
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Suzuki J, Hashimoto K, Xiao R, Vandenberghe LH, Liberman MC. Cochlear gene therapy with ancestral AAV in adult mice: complete transduction of inner hair cells without cochlear dysfunction. Sci Rep 2017; 7:45524. [PMID: 28367981 PMCID: PMC5377419 DOI: 10.1038/srep45524] [Citation(s) in RCA: 112] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2016] [Accepted: 03/01/2017] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The use of viral vectors for inner ear gene therapy is receiving increased attention for treatment of genetic hearing disorders. Most animal studies to date have injected viral suspensions into neonatal ears, via the round window membrane. Achieving transduction of hair cells, or sensory neurons, throughout the cochlea has proven difficult, and no studies have been able to efficiently transduce sensory cells in adult ears while maintaining normal cochlear function. Here, we show, for the first time, successful transduction of all inner hair cells and the majority of outer hair cells in an adult cochlea via virus injection into the posterior semicircular canal. We used a “designer” AAV, AAV2/Anc80L65, in which the main capsid proteins approximate the ancestral sequence state of AAV1, 2, 8, and 9. Our injections also transduced ~10% of spiral ganglion cells and a much larger fraction of their satellite cells. In the vestibular sensory epithelia, the virus transduced large numbers of hair cells and virtually all the supporting cells, along with close to half of the vestibular ganglion cells. We conclude that this viral vector and this delivery route hold great promise for gene therapy applications in both cochlear and vestibular sense organs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Suzuki
- Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye &Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA 02114, USA.,Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8574, Japan
| | - Ken Hashimoto
- Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye &Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA 02114, USA.,Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8574, Japan
| | - Ru Xiao
- Grousbeck Gene Therapy Center, Schepens Eye Research Institute and Massachusetts Eye &Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA 02114, USA.,Ocular Genomics Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Luk H Vandenberghe
- Grousbeck Gene Therapy Center, Schepens Eye Research Institute and Massachusetts Eye &Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA 02114, USA.,Ocular Genomics Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.,Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye &Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA 02114, USA
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44
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Liberman MC, Epstein MJ, Cleveland SS, Wang H, Maison SF. Toward a Differential Diagnosis of Hidden Hearing Loss in Humans. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0162726. [PMID: 27618300 PMCID: PMC5019483 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0162726] [Citation(s) in RCA: 373] [Impact Index Per Article: 46.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2016] [Accepted: 08/26/2016] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent work suggests that hair cells are not the most vulnerable elements in the inner ear; rather, it is the synapses between hair cells and cochlear nerve terminals that degenerate first in the aging or noise-exposed ear. This primary neural degeneration does not affect hearing thresholds, but likely contributes to problems understanding speech in difficult listening environments, and may be important in the generation of tinnitus and/or hyperacusis. To look for signs of cochlear synaptopathy in humans, we recruited college students and divided them into low-risk and high-risk groups based on self-report of noise exposure and use of hearing protection. Cochlear function was assessed by otoacoustic emissions and click-evoked electrocochleography; hearing was assessed by behavioral audiometry and word recognition with or without noise or time compression and reverberation. Both groups had normal thresholds at standard audiometric frequencies, however, the high-risk group showed significant threshold elevation at high frequencies (10-16 kHz), consistent with early stages of noise damage. Electrocochleography showed a significant difference in the ratio between the waveform peaks generated by hair cells (Summating Potential; SP) vs. cochlear neurons (Action Potential; AP), i.e. the SP/AP ratio, consistent with selective neural loss. The high-risk group also showed significantly poorer performance on word recognition in noise or with time compression and reverberation, and reported heightened reactions to sound consistent with hyperacusis. These results suggest that the SP/AP ratio may be useful in the diagnosis of "hidden hearing loss" and that, as suggested by animal models, the noise-induced loss of cochlear nerve synapses leads to deficits in hearing abilities in difficult listening situations, despite the presence of normal thresholds at standard audiometric frequencies.
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Affiliation(s)
- M. Charles Liberman
- Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States of America
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, United States of America
- Harvard Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Boston, MA, United States of America
| | - Michael J. Epstein
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States of America
| | - Sandra S. Cleveland
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States of America
| | - Haobing Wang
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, United States of America
| | - Stéphane F. Maison
- Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States of America
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, United States of America
- Harvard Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Boston, MA, United States of America
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Liberman LD, Liberman MC. Postnatal maturation of auditory-nerve heterogeneity, as seen in spatial gradients of synapse morphology in the inner hair cell area. Hear Res 2016; 339:12-22. [PMID: 27288592 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2016.06.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2016] [Revised: 05/09/2016] [Accepted: 06/06/2016] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Auditory nerve fibers in the adult ear are divided into functional subgroups according to spontaneous rate (SR) and threshold sensitivity. The high-threshold, low-SR fibers are morphologically and spatially distinct from the low-threshold high-SR fibers at their synaptic contacts with inner hair cells. This distinction between SR groups in the adult ear is visible in confocal microscopy as complementary size gradients of presynaptic ribbons and post-synaptic glutamate receptor patches across the modiolar-pillar and habenular-cuticular axes in the inner hair cell area. The aim of the present study was to track the post-natal development of this morphological gradient, in mouse, to determine the earliest age at which this important aspect of cochlear organization is fully mature. Here we show, using morphometric analysis of the organ of Corti immunostained for pre- and post-synaptic markers of efferent and afferent innervation, that this SR-based morphological gradient is not fully established until postnatal day 28, well after other features, such as synaptic counts and efferent innervation density in both the inner and outer hair cell areas, appear fully mature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leslie D Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA.
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46
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Suzuki J, Corfas G, Liberman MC. Round-window delivery of neurotrophin 3 regenerates cochlear synapses after acoustic overexposure. Sci Rep 2016; 6:24907. [PMID: 27108594 PMCID: PMC4842978 DOI: 10.1038/srep24907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 139] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2016] [Accepted: 04/04/2016] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
In acquired sensorineural hearing loss, such as that produced by noise or aging, there can be massive loss of the synaptic connections between cochlear sensory cells and primary sensory neurons, without loss of the sensory cells themselves. Because the cell bodies and central projections of these cochlear neurons survive for months to years, there is a long therapeutic window in which to re-establish functional connections and improve hearing ability. Here we show in noise-exposed mice that local delivery of neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) to the round window niche, 24 hours after an exposure that causes an immediate loss of up to 50% loss of synapses in the cochlear basal region, can regenerate pre- and post-synaptic elements at the hair cell / cochlear nerve interface. This synaptic regeneration, as documented by confocal microscopy of immunostained cochlear sensory epithelia, was coupled with a corresponding functional recovery, as seen in the suprathreshold amplitude of auditory brainstem response Wave 1. Cochlear delivery of neurotrophins in humans is likely achievable as an office procedure via transtympanic injection, making our results highly significant in a translational context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Suzuki
- Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA 02115, USA.,Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye &Ear Infirmary, Boston MA 02114, USA.,Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8574, Japan
| | - Gabriel Corfas
- Kresge Hearing Research Institute and Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA 02115, USA.,Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye &Ear Infirmary, Boston MA 02114, USA
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47
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Maison SF, Yin Y, Liberman LD, Liberman MC. Perinatal thiamine deficiency causes cochlear innervation abnormalities in mice. Hear Res 2016; 335:94-104. [PMID: 26944177 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2016.02.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2015] [Revised: 02/03/2016] [Accepted: 02/12/2016] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Neonatal thiamine deficiency can cause auditory neuropathy in humans. To probe the underlying cochlear pathology, mice were maintained on a thiamine-free or low-thiamine diet during fetal development or early postnatal life. At postnatal ages from 18 days to 22 wks, cochlear function was tested and cochlear histopathology analyzed by plastic sections and cochlear epithelial whole-mounts immunostained for neuronal and synaptic markers. Although none of the thiamine-deprivation protocols resulted in any loss of hair cells or any obvious abnormalities in the non-sensory structures of the cochlear duct, all the experimental groups showed significant anomalies in the afferent or efferent innervation. Afferent synaptic counts in the inner and outer hair cell areas were reduced, as was the efferent innervation density in both the outer and inner hair cell areas. As expected for primary neural degeneration, the thresholds for distortion product otoacoustic emissions were not affected, and as expected for subtotal hair cell de-afferentation, the suprathreshold amplitudes of auditory brainstem responses were more affected than the response thresholds. We conclude that the auditory neuropathy from thiamine deprivation could be produced by loss of inner hair cell synapses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stéphane F Maison
- Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA; Eaton-Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, Boston MA, USA; Harvard Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Boston MA, USA.
| | - Yanbo Yin
- Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA; Eaton-Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, Boston MA, USA
| | - Leslie D Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, Boston MA, USA
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA; Eaton-Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, Boston MA, USA; Harvard Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Boston MA, USA
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48
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Sensor JD, Suydam R, George JC, Liberman MC, Lovano D, Rhaganti MA, Usip S, Vinyard CJ, Thewissen JGM. The spiral ganglion and Rosenthal's canal in beluga whales. J Morphol 2016; 276:1455-66. [PMID: 26769322 DOI: 10.1002/jmor.20434] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2015] [Revised: 06/03/2015] [Accepted: 07/05/2015] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
With the increase of human activity and corresponding increase in anthropogenic sounds in marine waters of the Arctic, it is necessary to understand its effect on the hearing of marine wildlife. We have conducted a baseline study on the spiral ganglion and Rosenthal's canal of the cochlea in beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) as an initial assessment of auditory anatomy and health. We present morphometric data on the length of the cochlea, number of whorls, neuron densities along its length, Rosenthal's canal length, and cross-sectional area, and show some histological results. In belugas, Rosenthal's canal is not a cylinder of equal cross-sectional area, but its cross-section is greatest near the apex of the basal whorl. We found systematic variation in the numbers of neurons along the length of the spiral ganglion, indicating that neurons are not dispersed evenly in Rosenthal's canal. These results provide data on functionally important structural parameters of the beluga ear. We observed no signs of acoustic trauma in our sample of beluga whales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer D Sensor
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio, 44240
| | - Robert Suydam
- Department of Wildlife Management, North Slope Borough, Barrow, Alaska, 99723
| | - John C George
- Department of Wildlife Management, North Slope Borough, Barrow, Alaska, 99723
| | - M C Liberman
- Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115.,Eaton-Peabody Laboratories Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts, 02114
| | - Denise Lovano
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio, 44240
| | - Mary Ann Rhaganti
- Department of Anthropology, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, 44240
| | - Sharon Usip
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio, 44240
| | - Christopher J Vinyard
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio, 44240
| | - J G M Thewissen
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio, 44240
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49
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Valero MD, Hancock KE, Liberman MC. The middle ear muscle reflex in the diagnosis of cochlear neuropathy. Hear Res 2015; 332:29-38. [PMID: 26657094 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2015.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2015] [Revised: 11/14/2015] [Accepted: 11/17/2015] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Cochlear neuropathy, i.e. the loss of auditory nerve fibers (ANFs) without loss of hair cells, may cause hearing deficits without affecting threshold sensitivity, particularly if the subset of ANFs with high thresholds and low spontaneous rates (SRs) is preferentially lost, as appears to be the case in both aging and noise-damaged cochleas. Because low-SR fibers may also be important drivers of the medial olivocochlear reflex (MOCR) and middle-ear muscle reflex (MEMR), these reflexes might be sensitive metrics of cochlear neuropathy. To test this hypothesis, we measured reflex strength and reflex threshold in mice with noise-induced neuropathy, as documented by confocal analysis of immunostained cochlear whole-mounts. To assay the MOCR, we measured contra-noise modulation of ipsilateral distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) before and after the administration of curare to block the MEMR or curare + strychnine to also block the MOCR. The modulation of DPOAEs was 1) dominated by the MEMR in anesthetized mice, with a smaller contribution from the MOCR, and 2) significantly attenuated in neuropathic mice, but only when the MEMR was intact. We then measured MEMR growth functions by monitoring contra-noise induced changes in the wideband reflectance of chirps presented to the ipsilateral ear. We found 1) that the changes in wideband reflectance were mediated by the MEMR alone, and 2) that MEMR threshold was elevated and its maximum amplitude was attenuated in neuropathic mice. These data suggest that the MEMR may be valuable in the early detection of cochlear neuropathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle D Valero
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
| | - Kenneth E Hancock
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - M Charles Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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50
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Abstract
Synapses between cochlear nerve terminals and hair cells are the most vulnerable elements in the inner ear in both noise-induced and age-related hearing loss, and this neuropathy is exacerbated in the absence of efferent feedback from the olivocochlear bundle. If age-related loss is dominated by a lifetime of exposure to environmental sounds, reduction of acoustic drive to the inner ear might improve cochlear preservation throughout life. To test this, we removed the tympanic membrane unilaterally in one group of young adult mice, removed the olivocochlear bundle in another group and compared their cochlear function and innervation to age-matched controls one year later. Results showed that tympanic membrane removal, and the associated threshold elevation, was counterproductive: cochlear efferent innervation was dramatically reduced, especially the lateral olivocochlear terminals to the inner hair cell area, and there was a corresponding reduction in the number of cochlear nerve synapses. This loss led to a decrease in the amplitude of the suprathreshold cochlear neural responses. Similar results were seen in two cases with conductive hearing loss due to chronic otitis media. Outer hair cell death was increased only in ears lacking medial olivocochlear innervation following olivocochlear bundle cuts. Results suggest the novel ideas that 1) the olivocochlear efferent pathway has a dramatic use-dependent plasticity even in the adult ear and 2) a component of the lingering auditory processing disorder seen in humans after persistent middle-ear infections is cochlear in origin.
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Affiliation(s)
- M. Charles Liberman
- Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Harvard Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Leslie D. Liberman
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Stéphane F. Maison
- Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Harvard Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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