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Large basolateral processes on type II hair cells are novel processing units in mammalian vestibular organs.

ABSTRACT: Sensory receptors in the vestibular system (hair cells) encode head movements and drive central motor reflexes that control gaze, body movements, and body orientation. In mammals, type I and II vestibular hair cells are defined by their shape, contacts with vestibular afferent nerves, and membrane conductance. Here we describe unique morphological features of type II vestibular hair cells in mature rodents (mice and gerbils) and bats. These features are cytoplasmic processes that extend laterally from the hair cell base and project under type I hair cells. Closer analysis of adult mouse utricles demonstrated that the basolateral processes of type II hair cells vary in shape, size, and branching, with the longest processes extending three to four hair cell widths. The hair cell basolateral processes synapse upon vestibular afferent nerves and receive inputs from vestibular efferent nerves. Furthermore, some basolateral processes make physical contacts with the processes of other type II hair cells, forming some sort of network among type II hair cells. Basolateral processes are rare in perinatal mice and do not attain their mature form until 3-6 weeks of age. These observations demonstrate that basolateral processes are significant signaling regions of type II vestibular hair cells and suggest that type II hair cells may directly communicate with each other, which has not been described in vertebrates.

SUBMITTER: Pujol R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4107051 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Large basolateral processes on type II hair cells are novel processing units in mammalian vestibular organs.

Pujol Rémy R Pickett Sarah B SB Nguyen Tot Bui TB Stone Jennifer S JS

The Journal of comparative neurology 20140610 14

Sensory receptors in the vestibular system (hair cells) encode head movements and drive central motor reflexes that control gaze, body movements, and body orientation. In mammals, type I and II vestibular hair cells are defined by their shape, contacts with vestibular afferent nerves, and membrane conductance. Here we describe unique morphological features of type II vestibular hair cells in mature rodents (mice and gerbils) and bats. These features are cytoplasmic processes that extend laterall ...[more]

PMID: 24825750

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Project description:In the mammalian vestibular periphery, electrical activation of the efferent vestibular system (EVS) has two effects on afferent activity: 1) it increases background afferent discharge and 2) decreases afferent sensitivity to rotational stimuli. Although the cellular mechanisms underlying these two contrasting afferent responses remain obscure, we postulated that the reduction in afferent sensitivity was attributed, in part, to the activation of α9- containing nicotinic acetylcholine (ACh) receptors (α9*nAChRs) and small-conductance potassium channels (SK) in vestibular type II hair cells, as demonstrated in the peripheral vestibular system of other vertebrates. To test this hypothesis, we examined the effects of the predominant EVS neurotransmitter ACh on vestibular type II hair cells from wild-type (wt) and α9-subunit nAChR knockout (α9-/-) mice. Immunostaining for choline acetyltransferase revealed there were no obvious gross morphological differences in the peripheral EVS innervation among any of these strains. ACh application onto wt type II hair cells, at resting potentials, produced a fast inward current followed by a slower outward current, resulting in membrane hyperpolarization and decreased membrane resistance. Hyperpolarization and decreased resistance were due to gating of SK channels. Consistent with activation of α9*nAChRs and SK channels, these ACh-sensitive currents were antagonized by the α9*nAChR blocker strychnine and SK blockers apamin and tamapin. Type II hair cells from α9-/- mice, however, failed to respond to ACh at all. These results confirm the critical importance of α9nAChRs in efferent modulation of mammalian type II vestibular hair cells. Application of exogenous ACh reduces electrical impedance, thereby decreasing type II hair cell sensitivity. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Expression of α9 nicotinic subunit was crucial for fast cholinergic modulation of mammalian vestibular type II hair cells. These findings show a multifaceted efferent mechanism for altering hair cell membrane potential and decreasing membrane resistance that should reduce sensitivity to hair bundle displacements.

Project description:Proteomic analysis of chick vestibualr hair bundles purified using the twist-off method. See Description.doc. Utricle hair bundles were purified from E20–21 chicks using the twist-off method (Gillespie & Hudspeth J Cell Biol 112, 625-640, 1991; Shin et al. Neuron 53, 371-386, 2007). NuPAGE LDS sample buffer (Invitrogen) with 50 mM dithiothreitol was added to a combined final volume of 80 µl per 100 utricles' worth of bundles; samples were heated to 70°C for 15 min. Epithelial proteins were similarly solubilized with sample buffer. Proteins were separated by running ~1 cm into a NuPAGE 4–12% Bis-Tris gel (1.5 mm x 10 well; one or two lanes per bundle sample); gels were rinsed with water, then stained with Imperial Protein Stain (Thermo Scientific). The 1 cm of gel with separated proteins was manually sliced into six pieces. Gel pieces were transferred to siliconized tubes and washed and destained in 200 µl 50% methanol overnight. The gel pieces were dehydrated in acetonitrile, rehydrated in 30 µl of 10 mM dithiothreitol in 0.1 M ammonium bicarbonate and reduced at room temperature for 0.5 h. The DTT solution was removed and the sample alkylated in 30 µl 50 mM iodoacetamide in 0.1 M ammonium bicarbonate at room temperature for 0.5 h. The reagent was removed and the gel pieces dehydrated in 100 µl acetonitrile. The acetonitrile was removed and the gel pieces rehydrated in 100 µl 0.1 M ammonium bicarbonate. The pieces were dehydrated in 100 µl acetonitrile, the acetonitrile removed and the pieces completely dried by vacuum centrifugation. The gel pieces were rehydrated in 20 ng/µl trypsin (Sigma-Aldrich T6567 proteomics grade, from porcine pancreas, dimethylated) in 50 mM ammonium bicarbonate on ice for 10 min. Any excess enzyme solution was removed and 20 µl 50 mM ammonium bicarbonate added. The sample was digested overnight at 37°C and the peptides formed extracted from the polyacrylamide in two 30 µl aliquots of 50% acetonitrile/5% formic acid. These extracts were combined and evaporated to 15 µl for MS analysis. For the gel slice immediately adjacent to the agarose, peptides were purified away from interfering polymers by SCX. A single experiment's worth of hair bundles or epithelium was analyzed by six LC-MS/MS runs, corresponding to the six gel pieces. The LC-MS/MS system consisted of a Thermo Electron Orbitrap Velos ETD mass spectrometer system with a Protana nanospray ion source, which was interfaced to a reversed-phase capillary column of 8 cm length x 75 µm internal diameter, self-packed with Phenomenex C18 Jupiter of 10 µm particle size. An extract aliquot (7.5 µl) was injected and peptides eluted from the column by an acetonitrile/0.1 M acetic acid gradient at a flow rate of 0.5 µl/min over 1.2 hr. The nanospray ion source was operated at 2.5 kV. The digest was analyzed using the data-dependent capability of the instrument, acquiring—in sequential scans—a single full scan mass spectrum in the Orbitrap detector at 60,000 resolution to determine peptide molecular weights, and 20 product-ion spectra in the ion trap to determine amino acid sequence. MaxQuant version 1.2.2.5 software was used for protein identification and quantitation. The default contaminants file associated with the MaxQuant download was edited to remove entries known to be present in hair bundles (e.g., actin) and to add additional impurities that entered the bundle-purification workflow (keratins, hemoglobins, egg white components). Mass spectrometry data were searched against Ensembl version 66 (released February, 2012) using Andromeda; the Ensembl FASTA file was edited by replacing several sequences with longer or full-length sequences, including actin gamma 1 (NP_001007825.1), actin beta (NP_990849.1), fascin 1 (NP_001171603), fascin 2 (NP_001171209), ATP synthase beta (NP_001026562.1), peptidylprolyl isomerase A (NP_001159798.1), calbindin 2 (NP_990647.1), PDZD7 (XP_003641537.1), espin (XP_417532.3), and CACNA2D2 (XP_427707.3). Protein identifications were reported with an FDR of 1%. If a set of peptides for a protein was identical to or completely contained within that of another protein, MaxQuant groups those proteins together ("redundant groups"); the entry with the largest number of peptides was used to identify the redundant group. Redundant groups that shared more than 20% of their identified peptides were further grouped in our analysis ("shared-peptide groups"); the entry with the greatest intensity associated with it was used to identify the shared-peptide group.

Project description:Vestibular organs have unique planar cell polarity (Figure 1A), and their normal development and function are dependent on the regular polarity of cilia (Figure 1B) requires. Rab11a is a small G protein that participates in the transportation of intracellular and extracellular materials required for polarity formation; however, our understanding of the mechanisms of the actions of Rab11a in vestibular organs is limited. Here, we showed that the general shape of the utricle was abnormal in Rab11a CKO/CKO mice. These mice also showed abnormal morphology of the stereocilia bundles, which were reduced in both length and number, as well as disturbed tissue-level polarity. Rab11a affected the distribution of polarity proteins in the vestibular organs, indicating that the normal development of cilia requires Rab11a and intraflagellar transportation. Furthermore, small G protein migration works together with intraflagellar transportation in the normal development of cilia. FIGURE 1Morphological changes of stereocilia in the extrastriolar hair cells from Rab11a single or Rab11a/IFT88 double-mutant utricles. (A) Medial view of a mouse left inner ear with its five vestibular sensory organs (gray). Enlarged are the utricle showing their subdivisions, LPR (yellow line), and striola (blue). LES, lateral extrastriola; MES, medial extrastriola; LPR, line of polarity reversal. (B) Schematic view of vestibular hair cell. Kinocilium is marked with ace-tubulin. Basal body is marked with γ-tubulin. (C,C1,D,D1) Normal appearance of the stereocilia of extrastriolar hair cells of wild-type controls. (E,E1,F,F1) Altered morphology in Rab11a CKO/CKO animals. (G,G1,H,H1) The changes in the stereocilia morphology were more severe in Rab11a CKO/CKO /IFT 88 CKO/+ mice. (I-L) Higher magnification of confocal images of hair cells. (M-P) Scanning electron microscopy images of hair cells from wild-type controls and Rab11a mutants. (I,M) Morphology of normal. hair cells of wild-type controls. (J,N) The number of stereocilia on a single hair cell was deceased in the Rab11a mutant. (K,O) Stereocilia were shorter in mutants compared to the wild-type controls. (L,P) The staircase-like hair bundle architecture of hair cells was lost in Rab11a mutant mice. (Q) The percentage of hair cells with abnormal development of static cilia bundles in the extrastriola region was counted as a percentage of the total (n = 5). The percentage of abnormal hair cells was higher in Rab11a CKO/CKO , IFT88 CKO/+ mice compared to Rab11a CKO/CKO . The abnormal ratios of single and double knockout hair cells were 42.1 ± 5.7 and 71.5 ± 10.4, respectively. In (A-J), for all primary panels, hair cell stereociliary bundles were marked with phalloidin (green), the actin-rich cuticular plate of hair cells was labeled with β-spectrin (red), while the basal body of the hair cell was labeled with γ-tubulin (blue). Scale bars: 10 μm (C-H1), 5 μm (J-N). *P < 0.05.

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Large basolateral processes on type II hair cells are novel processing units in mammalian vestibular organs.

Publications

Large basolateral processes on type II hair cells are novel processing units in mammalian vestibular organs.

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