Usher protein functions in hair cells and photoreceptors

The 10 different genes associated with the deaf/blind disorder, Usher syndrome, encode a number of structurally and functionally distinct proteins, most expressed as multiple isoforms/protein variants. Functional characterization of these proteins suggests a role in stereocilia development in cochlear hair cells, likely owing to adhesive interactions in hair bundles. In mature hair cells, homodimers of the Usher cadherins, cadherin 23 and protocadherin 15, interact to form a structural fiber, the tip link, and the linkages that anchor the taller stereocilia's actin cytoskeleton core to the shorter adjacent stereocilia and the elusive mechanotransduction channels, explaining the deafness phenotype when these molecular interactions are perturbed. The conundrum is that photoreceptors lack a synonymous mechanotransduction apparatus, and so a common theory for Usher protein function in the two neurosensory cell types affected in Usher syndrome is lacking. Recent evidence linking photoreceptor cell dysfunction in the shaker 1 mouse model for Usher syndrome to light-induced protein translocation defects, combined with localization of an Usher protein interactome at the periciliary region of the photoreceptors suggests Usher proteins might regulate protein trafficking between the inner and outer segments of photoreceptors. A distinct Usher protein complex is trafficked to the ribbon synapses of hair cells, and synaptic defects have been reported in Usher mutants in both hair cells and photoreceptors. This review aims to clarify what is known about Usher protein function at the synaptic and apical poles of hair cells and photoreceptors and the prospects for identifying a unifying pathobiological mechanism to explain deaf/blindness in Usher syndrome.

WNK4 inhibits plasma membrane targeting of NCC through regulation of syntaxin13 SNARE formation

WNK4, a serine/threonine kinase, plays a critical role in the expression of membrane proteins in the cell surface; however, the underlying mechanism of WNK4 is not clear. Here, we demonstrate that WNK4 inhibits the fusion of plasma membrane delivering vesicle with sorting/recycling endosome through disrupting SNARE formation of syntaxin13, an endosomal t-SNARE and VAMP2, the v-SNARE in plasma membrane delivering vesicle. Their interaction and co-localization were enhanced by hyperosmotic stimulation which is known for WNK4 activation. The kinase domain of WNK4 interacts with the transmembrane domain (TM) of syntaxin13 and this interaction was abolished when the TM was replaced with that of syntaxin16. Interestingly, cell fractionation using sucrose gradients revealed that WNK4 inhibited the formation of the syntaxin13/VAMP2 SNARE complex in the endosomal compartment, but not syntaxin16/VAMP2 or syntaxin13/VAMP7. Syntaxin13 was not phosphorylated by WNK4 and WNK4KI also showed the same binding strength and similar inhibitory regulation on SNARE formation of syntaxin13. Physiological relevance of this mechanism was proved with the expression of NCC (Na(+) C1(-) co-transporter) in the cell surface. The inhibiting activity of WNK4 on surface expression of NCC was abolished by syntaxin13 siRNA transfection. These results suggest that WNK4 attenuates PM targeting of NCC proteins through regulation of syntaxin13 SNARE complex formation with VAMP2 in recycling and sorting endosome.