Date Available
4-16-2014
Year of Publication
2014
Degree Name
Master of Science in Medical Sciences (MSMS)
Document Type
Master's Thesis
College
Medicine
Department/School/Program
Medical Sciences
First Advisor
Dr. Gregory I. Frolenkov
Abstract
In the inner and outer hair cells (OHCs) of the inner ear, an unconventional myosin 15a localizes at the tips of mechanosensory stereocilia and plays an important role in forming and maintaining their normal structure. A missense mutation makes the motor domain of myosin 15a dysfunctional and is responsible for the congenital deafness DFNB3 in humans and deafness and vestibular defects in Shaker-2 (Sh2) mouse model. All hair cells of homozygous Shaker-2 mice (Myo15sh2/sh2) have abnormally short stereocilia, but, only stereocilia of Myo15sh2/sh2OHCs start to degenerate after the first few days of postnatal development and lose filamentous tip links between stereocilia that are crucial for mechanotransduction. The exact mechanisms of this degeneration are unknown even though they may underlie DFNB3 deafness in humans. We hypothesize that structural abnormalities in Myo15sh2/sh2 OHCs may alter the mechanical forces applied to the mechano-electrical transduction (MET) channels resulting in abnormal ionic homeostasis, which may lead to eventual degeneration of Myo15sh2/sh2 OHCs. Therefore, we investigated the ionic conductances and integrity of mechanotransduction apparatus in Myo15sh2/sh2 OHCs. Surprisingly, we found that myosin 15a-deficiency is associated not only with structural abnormalities of OHC stereocilia but also with alterations of voltage-gated ion conductances.
Recommended Citation
Syam, Diana, "Immobilizing Mutation in an Unconventional Myosin15a Affects not only the Structure of Mechanosensory Stereocilia in the Inner Ear Hair Cells but also their Ionic Conductances" (2014). Theses and Dissertations--Medical Sciences. 2.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/medsci_etds/2
