Clarin-2 gene supplementation durably preserves hearing in a model of progressive hearing loss.

Hearing loss is a major health concern affecting millions of people worldwide with currently limited treatment options. In clarin-2-deficient Clrn2-/- mice, used here as a model of progressive hearing loss, we report synaptic auditory abnormalities in addition to the previously demonstrated defects of hair bundle structure and mechanoelectrical transduction. We sought an in-depth evaluation of viral-mediated gene delivery as a therapy for these hearing-impaired mice. Supplementation with either the murine Clrn2 or human CLRN2 genes preserved normal hearing in treated Clrn2-/- mice. Conversely, mutated forms of CLRN2, identified in patients with post-lingual moderate to severe hearing loss, failed to prevent hearing loss. The ectopic expression of clarin-2 successfully prevented the loss of stereocilia, maintained normal mechanoelectrical transduction, preserved inner hair cell synaptic function, and ensured near-normal hearing thresholds over time. Maximal hearing preservation was observed when Clrn2 was delivered prior to the loss of transducing stereocilia. Our findings demonstrate that gene therapy is effective for the treatment of post-lingual hearing impairment and age-related deafness associated with CLRN2 patient mutations.

Clarin-2 is essential for hearing by maintaining stereocilia integrity and function.

Hearing relies on mechanically gated ion channels present in the actin-rich stereocilia bundles at the apical surface of cochlear hair cells. Our knowledge of the mechanisms underlying the formation and maintenance of the sound-receptive structure is limited. Utilizing a large-scale forward genetic screen in mice, genome mapping and gene complementation tests, we identified Clrn2 as a new deafness gene. The Clrn2clarinet/clarinet mice (p.Trp4* mutation) exhibit a progressive, early-onset hearing loss, with no overt retinal deficits. Utilizing data from the UK Biobank study, we could show that CLRN2 is involved in human non-syndromic progressive hearing loss. Our in-depth morphological, molecular and functional investigations establish that while it is not required for initial formation of cochlear sensory hair cell stereocilia bundles, clarin-2 is critical for maintaining normal bundle integrity and functioning. In the differentiating hair bundles, lack of clarin-2 leads to loss of mechano-electrical transduction, followed by selective progressive loss of the transducing stereocilia. Together, our findings demonstrate a key role for clarin-2 in mammalian hearing, providing insights into the interplay between mechano-electrical transduction and stereocilia maintenance.

Clarin-1 gene transfer rescues auditory synaptopathy in model of Usher syndrome.

Clarin-1, a tetraspan-like membrane protein defective in Usher syndrome type IIIA (USH3A), is essential for hair bundle morphogenesis in auditory hair cells. We report a new synaptic role for clarin-1 in mouse auditory hair cells elucidated by characterization of Clrn1 total (Clrn1ex4-/-) and postnatal hair cell-specific conditional (Clrn1ex4fl/fl Myo15-Cre+/-) knockout mice. Clrn1ex4-/- mice were profoundly deaf, whereas Clrn1ex4fl/fl Myo15-Cre+/- mice displayed progressive increases in hearing thresholds, with, initially, normal otoacoustic emissions and hair bundle morphology. Inner hair cell (IHC) patch-clamp recordings for the 2 mutant mice revealed defective exocytosis and a disorganization of synaptic F-actin and CaV1.3 Ca2+ channels, indicative of a synaptopathy. Postsynaptic defects were also observed, with an abnormally broad distribution of AMPA receptors associated with a loss of afferent dendrites and defective electrically evoked auditory brainstem responses. Protein-protein interaction assays revealed interactions between clarin-1 and the synaptic CaV1.3 Ca2+ channel complex via the Cavß2 auxiliary subunit and the PDZ domain-containing protein harmonin (defective in Usher syndrome type IC). Cochlear gene therapy in vivo, through adeno-associated virus-mediated Clrn1 transfer into hair cells, prevented the synaptic defects and durably improved hearing in Clrn1ex4fl/fl Myo15-Cre+/- mice. Our results identify clarin-1 as a key organizer of IHC ribbon synapses, and suggest new treatment possibilities for USH3A patients.

CIB2, defective in isolated deafness, is key for auditory hair cell mechanotransduction and survival.

Defects of CIB2, calcium- and integrin-binding protein 2, have been reported to cause isolated deafness, DFNB48 and Usher syndrome type-IJ, characterized by congenital profound deafness, balance defects and blindness. We report here two new nonsense mutations (pGln12* and pTyr110*) in CIB2 patients displaying nonsyndromic profound hearing loss, with no evidence of vestibular or retinal dysfunction. Also, the generated CIB2-/- mice display an early onset profound deafness and have normal balance and retinal functions. In these mice, the mechanoelectrical transduction currents are totally abolished in the auditory hair cells, whilst they remain unchanged in the vestibular hair cells. The hair bundle morphological abnormalities of CIB2-/- mice, unlike those of mice defective for the other five known USH1 proteins, begin only after birth and lead to regression of the stereocilia and rapid hair-cell death. This essential role of CIB2 in mechanotransduction and cell survival that, we show, is restricted to the cochlea, probably accounts for the presence in CIB2-/- mice and CIB2 patients, unlike in Usher syndrome, of isolated hearing loss without balance and vision deficits.

Transcription Factor Information System (TFIS): A Tool for Detection of Transcription Factor Binding Sites.

Transcription factors are trans-acting proteins that interact with specific nucleotide sequences known as transcription factor binding site (TFBS), and these interactions are implicated in regulation of the gene expression. Regulation of transcriptional activation of a gene often involves multiple interactions of transcription factors with various sequence elements. Identification of these sequence elements is the first step in understanding the underlying molecular mechanism(s) that regulate the gene expression. For in silico identification of these sequence elements, we have developed an online computational tool named transcription factor information system (TFIS) for detecting TFBS for the first time using a collection of JAVA programs and is mainly based on TFBS detection using position weight matrix (PWM). The database used for obtaining position frequency matrices (PFM) is JASPAR and HOCOMOCO, which is an open-access database of transcription factor binding profiles. Pseudo-counts are used while converting PFM to PWM, and TFBS detection is carried out on the basis of percent score taken as threshold value. TFIS is equipped with advanced features such as direct sequence retrieving from NCBI database using gene identification number and accession number, detecting binding site for common TF in a batch of gene sequences, and TFBS detection after generating PWM from known raw binding sequences in addition to general detection methods. TFIS can detect the presence of potential TFBSs in both the directions at the same time. This feature increases its efficiency. And the results for this dual detection are presented in different colors specific to the orientation of the binding site. Results obtained by the TFIS are more detailed and specific to the detected TFs as integration of more informative links from various related web servers are added in the result pages like Gene Ontology, PAZAR database and Transcription Factor Encyclopedia in addition to NCBI and UniProt. Common TFs like SP1, AP1 and NF-KB of the Amyloid beta precursor gene is easily detected using TFIS along with multiple binding sites. In another scenario of embryonic developmental process, TFs of the FOX family (FOXL1 and FOXC1) were also identified. TFIS is platform-independent which is publicly available along with its support and documentation at http://tfistool.appspot.com and http://www.bioinfoplus.com/tfis/ . TFIS is licensed under the GNU General Public License, version 3 (GPL-3.0).

Hydrothermally functionalized biocompatible nitrogen doped graphene nanosheet based biomimetic platforms for nitric oxide detection.

Hydrothermal synthesis of nanocomposites is of significant importance, as it affords facile, biocompatible, nontoxic, and economic fabrication. Herein, we report a hitherto unexplored cytocompatible and reusable biomimetic electrochemical sensor based on pyridyl porphyrin functionalized nitrogen doped graphene nanosheets. The porphyrin functionalized nitrogen doped graphene nanosheets (PFNGS) were prepared by a low temperature hydrothermal method via non-covalent strategies with a minimal impact on their physicochemical properties. Owing to their exceptional attributes like operational ease, low cost, portability, and sensitivity, the as-synthesized PFNGS, formed by π-π interactions, were employed for sensing nitric oxide (NO), which is a key regulator of diverse biological processes. Compared to porphyrin and nitrogen doped graphene nanosheets alone, PFNGS exhibited exceptional sensitivity (3.6191 µA µM-1) and remarkable electrocatalytic properties (0.61 V). This clearly outperforms the previously reported modified electrode materials for the electrochemical detection of NO. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) data also suggested that the PFNGS modified electrode possessed an increased reactive surface area, which results in an increase in the number of reactive sites and low charge transfer resistance. These results also demonstrated that the PFNGS modified electrode showed high stability and reproducibility, the limit of detection (LOD) (S/N = 3) of which was estimated to be 1 nM. Our PFNGS were found to be highly biocompatible and could also detect NO released from macrophage cells. This blend of biocompatibility, electrode stability, electrocatalytic activity along with enhanced sensitivity and selectivity makes PFNGS a powerful and reliable nanomaterial for various biomedical applications in complex biological systems.

Effect of Oxidative Phytochemicals on Nicotine-stressed UMNSAH/DF-1 Cell Line.

Nicotine is a parasympathomimetic alkaloid found in the nightshade family of plants (Solanaceae) and is a cholinergic drug. It acts directly by stimulating the nicotinic or muscarinic receptors or indirectly by inhibiting cholinesterase, promoting acetylcholine release, or by other mechanisms. 3% of tobacco or one cigarette yields 1 mg of nicotine. As nicotine enters the body, it disturbs the healthy functioning of the body. In this study, we isolated UMNSAH/DF-1 cell line from Gallus gallus. For this, 9 ± 2 day old chicken embryo was taken. This was followed by the extraction of nicotine (1 mg/ml) from cigarette. The cells were then given nicotine stress and were observed for blackening after 24 h of incubation under 40× resolution of microscope. It was found that this blackening of the cells was permanent even after a wash with 1× phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) followed by replenishing the medium. The phytochemicals extracted were from the dried powder, which included Curcuma longa ( Jiang Huáng; Turmeric) 40 mg/ml, Azadirachta indica (neem) 50 mg/ml, Cinnamomum tamala (bay leaf) 30 mg/ml, Camellia sinensis ( Lǜ Chá; Green Tea) 100 mg/ml, and Ocimum sanctum (tulsi) 30 mg/ml. When applied to nicotine-stressed cells, it was observed that ursolic acid in neem recovered 70%, followed by 65% recovery by tulsi (having triterpenoid), 50% recovery by the catechins in Ca. sinensis, and very little recovery shown by Ci. tamala. Due to the yellow coloration of the cells by Cu. longa, much could not be inferred, although it was inferable that it had resulted in little effects. Mixtures of these phytochemicals were used, and it was found that neem: tulsi diluted in 3:1 ratio was highly effective and cell recovery was almost 80%. 68% was recovered by tulsi: green tea in a ratio 1:3 and 42% by turmeric:green tea in a ratio of 1:5.