Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, 89557, USA.
Prestige Biopharma, 11-12F, 44, Myongjigukje7-ro, Gangseo-gu, Busan, 67264, South Korea.
Nat Commun. 2024 Jan 16;15(1):526. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-44230-x.
The inner ear is the hub where hair cells (HCs) transduce sound, gravity, and head acceleration stimuli to the brain. Hearing and balance rely on mechanosensation, the fastest sensory signals transmitted to the brain. The mechanoelectrical transducer (MET) channel is the entryway for the sound-balance-brain interface, but the channel-complex composition is not entirely known. Here, we report that the mouse utilizes Piezo1 (Pz1) and Piezo2 (Pz2) isoforms as MET-complex components. The Pz channels, expressed in HC stereocilia, and cell lines are co-localized and co-assembled with MET complex partners. Mice expressing non-functional Pz1 and Pz2 at the ROSA26 locus have impaired auditory and vestibular traits that can only be explained if the Pzs are integral to the MET complex. We suggest that Pz subunits constitute part of the MET complex and that interactions with other MET complex components yield functional MET units to generate HC MET currents.
内耳是毛细胞（HCs）将声音、重力和头部加速度刺激转化为大脑信号的中心。听觉和平衡依赖于机械感觉，这是传输到大脑的最快感觉信号。机械电换能器（MET）通道是声音-平衡-大脑接口的入口，但通道复合物的组成尚不完全清楚。在这里，我们报告小鼠利用 Piezo1（Pz1）和 Piezo2（Pz2）同工型作为 MET 复合物的组成部分。在 HC 纤毛和细胞系中表达的 Pz 通道与 MET 复合物的伴侣共定位和共组装。在 ROSA26 基因座表达功能失调的 Pz1 和 Pz2 的小鼠表现出听觉和前庭特征受损，如果 Pz 是 MET 复合物的组成部分，那么这些特征只能用 Pz 来解释。我们认为 Pz 亚基构成了 MET 复合物的一部分，与其他 MET 复合物成分的相互作用产生功能性 MET 单位，从而产生 HC MET 电流。
