Physiological changes throughout the ear due to age and noise - a longitudinal study

Biological and mechanical systems, whether by their overuse or their aging, will inevitably fail. Hearing provides a poignant example of this with noise-induced and age-related hearing loss. Hearing loss is not unique to humans, however, and is experienced by all animals in the face of wild and eclectic differences in ear morphology and operation. Here we exploited the high throughput and accessible tympanal ear of the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria (mixed sex) to rigorously quantify changes in the auditory system due to noise exposure (3 kHz pure tone at 126 dB SPL) and age. We analysed tympanal dispalcements, morphology of the auditory Mullers organ and measured activity of the auditory nerve, the transduction current and electrophysiological properties of individual auditory receptors. We found that noise mildly and transiently changes tympanal displacements, decreases both the width of the auditory nerve and the transduction current recorded from individual auditory neurons. Whereas age, but not noise, decreases the number of auditory neurons and increases their resting potential. Multiple other properties of Mullers organ were unaffected by either age or noise including: the number of supporting cells in Mullers organ or the nerve, membrane resistance and capacitance of the auditory neurons. The sound-evoked activity of the auditory nerve decreased as a function of age and this decrease was exacerbated by noise, with the largest difference during the middle of their life span. This middle-aged deafness pattern of hearing loss mirrors that found for humans exposed to noise early in their life.

Ca2+-activated Cl− current ensures robust and reliable signal amplification in vertebrate olfactory receptor neurons

Activation of most primary sensory neurons results in transduction currents that are carried by cations. One notable exception is the vertebrate olfactory receptor neuron (ORN), where the transduction current is carried largely by the anion Cl−. However, it remains unclear why ORNs use an anionic current for signal amplification. We have sought to provide clarification on this topic by studying the so far neglected dynamics of Na+, Ca2+, K+, and Cl− in the small space of olfactory cilia during an odorant response. Using computational modeling and simulations we compared the outcomes of signal amplification based on either Cl− or Na+ currents. We found that amplification produced by Na+ influx instead of a Cl− efflux is problematic for several reasons: First, the Na+ current amplitude varies greatly, depending on mucosal ion concentration changes. Second, a Na+ current leads to a large increase in the ciliary Na+ concentration during an odorant response. This increase inhibits and even reverses Ca2+ clearance by Na+/Ca2+/K+ exchange, which is essential for response termination. Finally, a Na+ current increases the ciliary osmotic pressure, which could cause swelling to damage the cilia. By contrast, a transduction pathway based on Cl− efflux circumvents these problems and renders the odorant response robust and reliable.

The Ca2+-activated Cl− current ensures robust and reliable signal amplification in vertebrate olfactory receptor neurons

Activation of most primary sensory neurons results in transduction currents that are carried by cations. One notable exception is the vertebrate olfactory receptor neuron (ORN), where the transduction current is carried largely by the anion Cl−. However, it remains unclear why ORNs use an anionic current for signal amplification. We have sought to provide clarification on this topic by studying the so far neglected dynamics of Na+, Ca2+, K+ and Cl− in the small space of olfactory cilia during an odorant response. Using computational modeling and simulations we compared the outcomes of signal amplification based on either Cl− or Na+ currents. We found that amplification produced by Na+ influx instead of a Cl− efflux is problematic due to several reasons: First, the Na+ current amplitude varies greatly depending on mucosal ion concentration changes. Second, a Na+ current leads to a large increase in the ciliary Na+ concentration during an odorant response. This increase inhibits and even reverses Ca2+ clearance by Na+/Ca2+/K+ exchange, which is essential for response termination. Finally, a Na+ current increases the ciliary osmotic pressure, which could cause swelling to damage the cilia. By contrast, a transduction pathway based on Cl− efflux circumvents these problems and renders the odorant response robust and reliable.

DSL ligand endocytosis physically dissociates Notch1 heterodimers before activating proteolysis can occur

Cleavage of Notch by furin is required to generate a mature, cell surface heterodimeric receptor that can be proteolytically activated to release its intracellular domain, which functions in signal transduction. Current models propose that ligand binding to heterodimeric Notch (hNotch) induces a disintegrin and metalloprotease (ADAM) proteolytic release of the Notch extracellular domain (NECD), which is subsequently shed and/or endocytosed by DSL ligand cells. We provide evidence for NECD release and internalization by DSL ligand cells, which, surprisingly, did not require ADAM activity. However, losses in either hNotch formation or ligand endocytosis significantly decreased NECD transfer to DSL ligand cells, as well as signaling in Notch cells. Because endocytosis-defective ligands bind hNotch, but do not dissociate it, additional forces beyond those produced through ligand binding must function to disrupt the intramolecular interactions that keep hNotch intact and inactive. Based on our findings, we propose that mechanical forces generated during DSL ligand endocytosis function to physically dissociate hNotch, and that dissociation is a necessary step in Notch activation.

Myosin I and adaptation of mechanical transduction by the inner ear

Twenty years ago, the description of hair-cell stereocilia as actin-rich structures led to speculation that myosin molecules participated in mechanical transduction in the inner ear. In 1987, Howard and Hudspeth proposed specifically that a myosin I might mediate adaptation of the transduction current carried by hair cells, the sensory cells of the ear. We exploited the myosin literature to design tests of this hypothesis and to show that the responsible isoform is myosin 1c. The identification of this myosin as the adaptation motor would have been impossible without thorough experimentation on other myosins, particularly muscle myosins. The sliding-filament hypothesis for muscle contraction has thus led to a detailed understanding of the behaviour of hair cells.