Autor: |
Giese APJ; Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA., Parker A; MRC Harwell Institute, Mammalian Genetics Unit, Harwell Campus, Oxfordshire, OX11 0RD, UK., Rehman S; Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA., Brown SDM; MRC Harwell Institute, Mammalian Genetics Unit, Harwell Campus, Oxfordshire, OX11 0RD, UK., Riazuddin S; Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA., Vander Kooi CW; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA., Bowl MR; MRC Harwell Institute, Mammalian Genetics Unit, Harwell Campus, Oxfordshire, OX11 0RD, UK.; UCL Ear Institute, University College London, London, WC1X 8EE, UK., Ahmed ZM; Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.; Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.; Program in Neuroscience & Cognitive Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA. |
Abstrakt: |
Variations in genes coding for calcium and integrin binding protein 2 (CIB2) and whirlin cause deafness both in humans and mice. We previously reported that CIB2 binds to whirlin, and is essential for normal staircase architecture of auditory hair cells stereocilia. Here, we refine the interacting domains between these proteins and provide evidence that both proteins have distinct role in the development and organization of stereocilia bundles required for auditory transduction. Using a series of CIB2 and whirlin deletion constructs and nanoscale pulldown (NanoSPD) assays, we localized the regions of CIB2 that are critical for interaction with whirlin. AlphaFold 2 multimer, independently identified the same interacting regions between CIB2 and whirlin proteins, providing a detailed structural model of the interaction between the CIB2 EF2 domain and whirlin HHD2 domain. Next, we investigated genetic interaction between murine Cib2 and Whrn using genetic approaches. Hearing in mice double heterozygous for functionally null alleles ( Cib2 KO/+ ;Whrn wi/+ ) was similar to age-matched wild type mice, indicating that partial deficiency for both Cib2 and Whrn does not impair hearing. Double homozygous mutant mice ( Cib2 KO/KO ;Whrn wi/wi ) had profound hearing loss and cochlear stereocilia exhibited a predominant phenotype seen in single Whrn wi/wi mutants. Furthermore, over-expression of Whrn in Cib2 KO/KO mice did not rescue the stereocilia morphology. These data suggest that, CIB2 is multifunctional, with key independent functions in development and/or maintenance of stereocilia staircase pattern in auditory hair cells. |