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1.
Curr Gene Ther ; 24(3): 208-216, 2024.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38676313

RESUMO

Hearing loss is a prevalent sensory impairment significantly affecting communication and quality of life. Traditional approaches for hearing restoration, such as cochlear implants, have limitations in frequency resolution and spatial selectivity. Optogenetics, an emerging field utilizing light-sensitive proteins, offers a promising avenue for addressing these limitations and revolutionizing hearing rehabilitation. This review explores the methods of introducing Channelrhodopsin- 2 (ChR2), a key light-sensitive protein, into cochlear cells to enable optogenetic stimulation. Viral- mediated gene delivery is a widely employed technique in optogenetics. Selecting a suitable viral vector, such as adeno-associated viruses (AAV), is crucial in efficient gene delivery to cochlear cells. The ChR2 gene is inserted into the viral vector through molecular cloning techniques, and the resulting viral vector is introduced into cochlear cells via direct injection or round window membrane delivery. This allows for the expression of ChR2 and subsequent light sensitivity in targeted cells. Alternatively, direct cell transfection offers a non-viral approach for ChR2 delivery. The ChR2 gene is cloned into a plasmid vector, which is then combined with transfection agents like liposomes or nanoparticles. This mixture is applied to cochlear cells, facilitating the entry of the plasmid DNA into the target cells and enabling ChR2 expression. Optogenetic stimulation using ChR2 allows for precise and selective activation of specific neurons in response to light, potentially overcoming the limitations of current auditory prostheses. Moreover, optogenetics has broader implications in understanding the neural circuits involved in auditory processing and behavior. The combination of optogenetics and gene delivery techniques provides a promising avenue for improving hearing restoration strategies, offering the potential for enhanced frequency resolution, spatial selectivity, and improved auditory perception.


Assuntos
Percepção Auditiva , Terapia Genética , Vetores Genéticos , Perda Auditiva , Optogenética , Optogenética/métodos , Humanos , Terapia Genética/métodos , Percepção Auditiva/genética , Vetores Genéticos/genética , Perda Auditiva/genética , Perda Auditiva/terapia , Channelrhodopsins/genética , Dependovirus/genética , Técnicas de Transferência de Genes , Animais , Implantes Cocleares
2.
Genes Brain Behav ; 21(6): e12808, 2022 07.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35419947

RESUMO

Developmental dyslexia is a common neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by difficulties in reading and writing. Although underlying biological and genetic mechanisms remain unclear, anomalies in phonological processing and auditory processing have been associated with dyslexia. Several candidate risk genes have also been identified, with KIAA0319 as a main candidate. Animal models targeting the rodent homolog (Kiaa0319) have been used to explore putative behavioral and anatomic anomalies, with mixed results. For example after downregulation of Kiaa0319 expression in rats via shRNA, significant adult rapid auditory processing impairments were reported, along with cortical anomalies reflecting atypical neuronal migration. Conversely, Kiaa0319 knockout (KO) mice were reported to have typical adult auditory processing, and no visible cortical anomalies. To address these inconsistencies, we tested Kiaa0319 KO mice on auditory processing tasks similar to those used previously in rat shRNA knockdown studies. Subsequent neuroanatomic analyses on these same mice targeted medial geniculate nucleus (MGN), a receptive communication-related brain structure. Results confirm that Kiaa0319 KO mice exhibit significant auditory processing impairments specific to rapid/brief stimuli, and also show significant volumetric reductions and a shift toward fewer large and smaller neurons in the MGN. The latter finding is consistent with post mortem MGN data from human dyslexic brains. Combined evidence supports a role for KIAA0319 in the development of auditory CNS pathways subserving rapid auditory processing functions critical to the development of speech processing, language, and ultimately reading. Results affirm KIAA0319 variation as a possible risk factor for dyslexia specifically via anomalies in central acoustic processing pathways.


Assuntos
Dislexia , Corpos Geniculados , Animais , Percepção Auditiva/genética , Dislexia/genética , Camundongos , Camundongos Knockout , RNA Interferente Pequeno , Ratos
3.
J Appl Genet ; 63(2): 327-337, 2022 May.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35000142

RESUMO

Congenital sensorineural hearing loss (CSHL) and microtia are development-related diseases, sharing some factors and affecting children's hearing. However, genetic tests only focus on CSHL. We try to identify the common molecular mechanism of CSHL and microtia as candidates combining gene diagnosis biomarkers. Whole-exon sequencing (WES), Sanger sequencing, qPCR, and bioinformatics analyses were performed in microtia family (F1), family two, whose proband suffered from microtia and CSHL (F2), five microtia, and four CSHL individuals, respectively. We found that 40% microtia and 40% CSHL relevant genes were detected in F1 and a sharing pathway: the sensory perception of sound was identified. Moreover, the copy number variation in proband F2 was identified in one gene of the sharing pathway: EYA1. Meanwhile, two variants of BUB3 were identified in F1 data. BUB3 is related to development, dog ear type, direct and indirect interaction with microtia, and CSHL relevant genes. Notably, although the allele frequency of two variants of BUB3 showed significant differences between microtia and CSHL, the special microtia-relevant genotype also could be detected in one CSHL sample. These results suggest that the sensory perception of sound and the development of relevant pathways may be the common pathways of microtia and CSHL. Genes of these pathways can be used as candidates combining gene diagnosis biomarkers.


Assuntos
Percepção Auditiva , Microtia Congênita , Perda Auditiva Neurossensorial , Percepção Auditiva/genética , Proteínas de Ciclo Celular/genética , Microtia Congênita/genética , Variações do Número de Cópias de DNA , Perda Auditiva Neurossensorial/diagnóstico , Perda Auditiva Neurossensorial/genética , Humanos , Peptídeos e Proteínas de Sinalização Intracelular/genética , Proteínas Nucleares/genética , Proteínas de Ligação a Poli-ADP-Ribose/genética , Proteínas Tirosina Fosfatases/genética
4.
Int J Mol Sci ; 22(9)2021 Apr 26.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33925933

RESUMO

The LIM homeodomain transcription factor ISL1 is essential for the different aspects of neuronal development and maintenance. In order to study the role of ISL1 in the auditory system, we generated a transgenic mouse (Tg) expressing Isl1 under the Pax2 promoter control. We previously reported a progressive age-related decline in hearing and abnormalities in the inner ear, medial olivocochlear system, and auditory midbrain of these Tg mice. In this study, we investigated how Isl1 overexpression affects sound processing by the neurons of the inferior colliculus (IC). We recorded extracellular neuronal activity and analyzed the responses of IC neurons to broadband noise, clicks, pure tones, two-tone stimulation and frequency-modulated sounds. We found that Tg animals showed a higher inhibition as displayed by two-tone stimulation; they exhibited a wider dynamic range, lower spontaneous firing rate, longer first spike latency and, in the processing of frequency modulated sounds, showed a prevalence of high-frequency inhibition. Functional changes were accompanied by a decreased number of calretinin and parvalbumin positive neurons, and an increased expression of vesicular GABA/glycine transporter and calbindin in the IC of Tg mice, compared to wild type animals. The results further characterize abnormal sound processing in the IC of Tg mice and demonstrate that major changes occur on the side of inhibition.


Assuntos
Percepção Auditiva/genética , Colículos Inferiores/fisiologia , Proteínas com Homeodomínio LIM/genética , Fatores de Transcrição/genética , Animais , Percepção Auditiva/fisiologia , Limiar Auditivo/fisiologia , Encéfalo/fisiologia , Potenciais Evocados Auditivos do Tronco Encefálico/fisiologia , Feminino , Expressão Gênica/genética , Audição , Humanos , Colículos Inferiores/metabolismo , Proteínas com Homeodomínio LIM/metabolismo , Masculino , Camundongos , Camundongos Transgênicos , Neurônios/fisiologia , Fator de Transcrição PAX2/genética , Regiões Promotoras Genéticas/genética , Fatores de Transcrição/metabolismo
5.
RNA Biol ; 18(4): 468-480, 2021 04.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32887533

RESUMO

Tissue-specific alternative splicing (AS) is emerging as one of the most exciting types of mechanisms associated with organ development and disease. In the auditory system, many hearing-related genes undergo AS, and errors in this process result in syndromic or non-syndromic hearing loss. However, little is known about the factors and mechanisms directing AS in the inner ear. In the present study, we identified a novel RNA-binding protein, Rbm24, which was critically involved in regulating inner-ear-specific AS. Rbm24 deletion resulted in hearing loss and defects in motor coordination. Global splicing analysis showed Rbm24 was required for correct splicing of a subset of pre-mRNA transcripts with essential roles in stereocilia integrity and survival of hair cells. Furthermore, we identified that Rbm24 directly regulated the splicing of Cdh23, a known disease gene responsible for human Usher syndrome 1D and non-syndromic autosomal recessive deafness DFNB12. In conclusion, our findings demonstrated that Rbm24 was a critical factor in regulating inner-ear-specific splicing and maintaining the hearing and motor coordination function of the inner ear. Our data not only offer mechanistic insights but also provide functional annotation of Rbm24 splicing targets that contribute to hearing loss.


Assuntos
Processamento Alternativo/genética , Orelha Interna/metabolismo , Desempenho Psicomotor , Proteínas de Ligação a RNA/fisiologia , Animais , Percepção Auditiva/genética , Percepção Auditiva/fisiologia , Células HEK293 , Células HeLa , Perda Auditiva/genética , Perda Auditiva/metabolismo , Humanos , Locomoção/genética , Camundongos , Camundongos Knockout , Desempenho Psicomotor/fisiologia , Splicing de RNA/genética
6.
Psychiatr Genet ; 30(6): 169-173, 2020 12.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33165203

RESUMO

Bipolar disorder is a high prevalent psychiatric condition entailing recurrent episodes of elevated mood and depression, but also diverse cognitive problems. One deficit observed in patients concerns to auditory-verbal processing. Being a hereditary condition with a complex genetic architecture, it is not clear which genes contribute to this deficit. We show that candidates for bipolar disorder significantly overlap with candidates for clinical conditions resulting from a deficit in the phonological loop of working memory, particularly, developmental dyslexia and specific language impairment. The overlapping genes are involved in aspects of brain development and function (particularly, brain oscillations) potentially underlying phonological processing and accordingly, emerge as promising candidates for auditory-verbal deficits in bipolar disorder.


Assuntos
Transtorno Bipolar/complicações , Dislexia/genética , Memória de Curto Prazo , Proteínas do Tecido Nervoso/genética , Transtorno Específico de Linguagem/genética , Antígenos/genética , Percepção Auditiva/genética , Transtorno Bipolar/genética , Transtorno Bipolar/psicologia , Encéfalo/embriologia , Proteínas do Citoesqueleto/genética , Dislexia/etiologia , Feminino , Estudos de Associação Genética , Humanos , Masculino , Proteínas de Membrana/genética , Microcefalia/genética , Fonética , Proteínas de Ligação a RNA/genética , Receptores de N-Metil-D-Aspartato/genética , Subunidade beta da Proteína Ligante de Cálcio S100/genética , Transtorno Específico de Linguagem/etiologia , Fatores de Transcrição/genética
7.
Pharmacol Biochem Behav ; 196: 172975, 2020 09.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32593787

RESUMO

Catechol-o-methyltransferase (COMT) is an enzyme that metabolizes catecholamines, and is crucial for clearance of dopamine (DA) in prefrontal cortex. Val158Met polymorphism, which causes a valine (Val) to methionine (Met) substitution at codon 158, is reported to be associated with human psychopathologies in some studies. The Val/Val variant of the enzyme results in higher dopamine metabolism, which results in reduced dopamine transmission. Thus, it is important to investigate the relation between Val158Met polymorphisms using rodent models of psychiatric symptoms, including negative symptoms such as motivational dysfunction. In the present study, humanized COMT transgenic mice with two genotype groups (Val/Val (Val) and Met/Met (Met) homozygotes) and wild-type (WT) mice from the S129 background were tested using a touchscreen effort-based choice paradigm. Mice were trained to choose between delivery of a preferred liquid diet that reinforced panel pressing on various fixed ratio (FR) schedules (high-effort alternative), vs. intake of pellets concurrently available in the chamber (low-effort alternative). Panel pressing requirements were controlled by varying the FR levels (FR1, 2, 4, 8, 16) in ascending and descending sequences across weeks of testing. All mice were able to acquire the initial touchscreen operant training, and there was an inverse relationship between the number of reinforcers delivered by panel pressing and pellet intake across different FR levels. There was a significant group x FR level interaction in the ascending limb, with panel presses in the Val group being significantly lower than the WT group in FR1-8, and lower than Met in FR4. These findings indicate that the humanized Val allele in mice modulates FR/pellet-choice performance, as marked by lower levels of panel pressing in the Val group when the ratio requirement was moderately high. These studies may contribute to the understanding of the role of COMT polymorphisms in negative symptoms such as motivational dysfunctions in schizophrenic patients.


Assuntos
Catecol O-Metiltransferase/genética , Tomada de Decisões , Metionina/genética , Polimorfismo Genético , Valina/genética , Animais , Percepção Auditiva/genética , Catecol O-Metiltransferase/química , Humanos , Masculino , Camundongos , Camundongos Transgênicos
8.
Cell Rep ; 31(6): 107636, 2020 05 12.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32402272

RESUMO

We act upon stimuli in our surrounding environment by gathering the multisensory information they convey and by integrating this information to decide on a behavioral action. We hypothesized that the anterolateral secondary visual cortex (area AL) of the mouse brain may serve as a hub for sensorimotor transformation of audiovisual information. We imaged neuronal activity in primary visual cortex (V1) and AL of the mouse during a detection task using visual, auditory, and audiovisual stimuli. We found that AL neurons were more sensitive to weak uni- and multisensory stimuli compared to V1. Depending on contrast, different subsets of AL and V1 neurons showed cross-modal modulation of visual responses. During audiovisual stimulation, AL neurons showed stronger differentiation of behaviorally reported versus unreported stimuli compared to V1, whereas V1 showed this distinction during unisensory visual stimulation. Thus, neural population activity in area AL correlates more closely with multisensory detection behavior than V1.


Assuntos
Percepção Auditiva/genética , Neurônios/metabolismo , Estimulação Luminosa/métodos , Córtex Visual/fisiologia , Percepção Visual/genética , Animais , Humanos , Camundongos
9.
Commun Biol ; 3(1): 180, 2020 04 20.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32313182

RESUMO

Language development builds upon a complex network of interacting subservient systems. It therefore follows that variations in, and subclinical disruptions of, these systems may have secondary effects on emergent language. In this paper, we consider the relationship between genetic variants, hearing, auditory processing and language development. We employ whole genome sequencing in a discovery family to target association and gene x environment interaction analyses in two large population cohorts; the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) and UK10K. These investigations indicate that USH2A variants are associated with altered low-frequency sound perception which, in turn, increases the risk of developmental language disorder. We further show that Ush2a heterozygote mice have low-level hearing impairments, persistent higher-order acoustic processing deficits and altered vocalizations. These findings provide new insights into the complexity of genetic mechanisms serving language development and disorders and the relationships between developmental auditory and neural systems.


Assuntos
Percepção Auditiva/genética , Transtornos da Percepção Auditiva/genética , Linguagem Infantil , Proteínas da Matriz Extracelular/genética , Transtornos da Audição/genética , Audição/genética , Transtornos do Desenvolvimento da Linguagem/genética , Polimorfismo de Nucleotídeo Único , Fatores Etários , Animais , Transtornos da Percepção Auditiva/fisiopatologia , Transtornos da Percepção Auditiva/psicologia , Criança , Pré-Escolar , Feminino , Interação Gene-Ambiente , Predisposição Genética para Doença , Estudo de Associação Genômica Ampla , Transtornos da Audição/fisiopatologia , Transtornos da Audição/psicologia , Heterozigoto , Humanos , Transtornos do Desenvolvimento da Linguagem/fisiopatologia , Transtornos do Desenvolvimento da Linguagem/psicologia , Estudos Longitudinais , Masculino , Camundongos da Linhagem 129 , Camundongos Knockout , Fenótipo , Medição de Risco , Fatores de Risco , Reino Unido , Vocalização Animal , Sequenciamento Completo do Genoma
10.
Hear Res ; 387: 107879, 2020 03 01.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31927188

RESUMO

The underlying causes of age-related hearing loss (ARHL) are not well understood, but it is clear from heritability estimates that genetics plays a role in addition to environmental factors. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in human populations can point to candidate genes that may be involved in ARHL, but follow-up analysis is needed to assess the role of these genes in the disease process. Some genetic variants may contribute a small amount to a disease, while other variants may have a large effect size, but the genetic architecture of ARHL is not yet well-defined. In this study, we asked if a set of 17 candidate genes highlighted by early GWAS reports of ARHL have detectable effects on hearing by knocking down expression levels of each gene in the mouse and analysing auditory function. We found two of the genes have an impact on hearing. Mutation of Dclk1 led to late-onset progressive increase in ABR thresholds and the A430005L14Rik (C1orf174) mutants showed worse recovery from noise-induced damage than controls. We did not detect any abnormal responses in the remaining 15 mutant lines either in thresholds or from our battery of suprathreshold ABR tests, and we discuss the possible reasons for this.


Assuntos
Percepção Auditiva/genética , Variação Genética , Perda Auditiva Provocada por Ruído/genética , Audição/genética , Presbiacusia/genética , Fatores Etários , Animais , Quinases Semelhantes a Duplacortina , Potenciais Evocados Auditivos do Tronco Encefálico/genética , Feminino , Predisposição Genética para Doença , Estudo de Associação Genômica Ampla , Perda Auditiva Provocada por Ruído/fisiopatologia , Humanos , Peptídeos e Proteínas de Sinalização Intracelular/genética , Masculino , Camundongos Endogâmicos C57BL , Camundongos Mutantes , Camundongos Transgênicos , Fenótipo , Presbiacusia/fisiopatologia , Proteínas Serina-Treonina Quinases/genética , Medição de Risco , Fatores de Risco
11.
PLoS One ; 15(1): e0224057, 2020.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31910219

RESUMO

There have been relatively few studies of how central synapses age in adult Drosophila melanogaster. In this study we investigate the aging of the synaptic inputs to the Giant Fiber (GF) from auditory Johnston's Organ neurons (JONs). In previously published experiments an indirect assay of this synaptic connection was used; here we describe a new, more direct assay, which allows reliable detection of the GF action potential in the neck connective, and long term recording of its responses to sound. Genetic poisoning using diphtheria toxin expressed in the GF with R68A06-GAL4 was used to confirm that this signal indeed arose from the GF and not from other descending neurons. As before, the sound-evoked action potentials (SEPs) in the antennal nerve were recorded via an electrode inserted at the base of the antenna. It was noted that an action potential in the GF elicited an antennal twitch, which in turn evoked a mechanosensory response from the JONs in the absence of sound. We then used these extracellular recording techniques in males and female of different ages to quantify the response of the JONs to a brief sound impulse, and also to measure the strength of the connection between the JONs and the GF. At no age was there any significant difference between males and females, for any of the parameters measured. The sensitivity of the JONs to a sound impulse approximately doubled between 1 d and 10 d after eclosion, which corresponds to the period when most mating is taking place. Subsequently JON sensitivity decreased with age, being approximately half as sensitive at 20 d and one-third as sensitive at 50 d, as compared to 10 d. However, the strength of the connection between the auditory input and the GF itself remained unchanged with age, although it did show some variability that could mask any small changes.


Assuntos
Percepção Auditiva/genética , Mecanorreceptores/fisiologia , Neurônios/fisiologia , Sinapses/genética , Potenciais de Ação/genética , Potenciais de Ação/fisiologia , Animais , Animais Geneticamente Modificados , Antenas de Artrópodes/fisiologia , Vias Auditivas/fisiologia , Percepção Auditiva/fisiologia , Toxina Diftérica/farmacologia , Drosophila melanogaster/genética , Drosophila melanogaster/fisiologia , Feminino , Masculino , Mecanorreceptores/metabolismo , Células Receptoras Sensoriais/fisiologia , Som , Sinapses/fisiologia
12.
Laryngoscope ; 130(6): E416-E422, 2020 06.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31603566

RESUMO

OBJECTIVES: To compare the circulating microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles between sudden sensory neural hearing loss (SSNHL) patients and age-matched normal hearing controls. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective cohort multi-center study. METHODS: Patients presenting within 28 days of onset of SSNHL were prospectively recruited along with contemporaneous age-matched controls. Pooled sera of four patient (n = 09, mean age = 53.0 years; 07, 55.0; 10, 52.9; 10, 51.6) and two control (09, 51.2 and 03, 50.0) groups were assessed using a TaqMan Low Density Array. The patients' sera were also divided into two pools, untreated (04, 57.7) and treated (32, 52.6) for additional analysis. miRNA expression level was derived from cycle threshold (Ct) values normalized to a global mean. Inter-group mean Ct differences with fold changes ≥2.0 and ≤0.5 at P < .05 were considered significant. Bioinformatic databases were used to identify putative target mRNAs or validated genes and their functional annotations. RESULTS: Thirty-six SSNHL patients (mean age 53.0 ± standard deviation (SD) 15.2 years) and 12 controls (50.9 ± 11.9) were studied. Eight miRNAs hsa-miR-590-5p/ -186-5p/ -195-5p/ -140-3p/ -128-3p/ -132-3p/ -375-3p, and -30a-3p were identified as significantly differentially expressed in SSNHL patients. Most of these miRNAs were abundantly identified in the nervous system and the putative target messenger RNAs (mRNAs) were enriched in signaling pathways such as phosphatidyl inositol 3 kinase/protein Kinase B (PI3K/Akt), Ras and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest the possible cellular signaling pathways that underlie the disruption of auditory signal transmission in SSNHL. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2 Laryngoscope, 130:E416-E422, 2020.


Assuntos
Predisposição Genética para Doença/genética , Perda Auditiva Súbita/genética , MicroRNAs/sangue , Adulto , Idoso , Percepção Auditiva/genética , Estudos de Casos e Controles , Feminino , Marcadores Genéticos , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Estudos Prospectivos , Transdução de Sinais/genética
13.
Hear Res ; 380: 137-149, 2019 09 01.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31301514

RESUMO

This Review outlines the development of DNA-based therapeutics for treatment of hearing loss, and in particular, considers the potential to utilize the properties of recombinant neurotrophins to improve cochlear auditory (spiral ganglion) neuron survival and repair. This potential to reduce spiral ganglion neuron death and indeed re-grow the auditory nerve fibres has been the subject of considerable pre-clinical evaluation over decades with the view of improving the neural interface with cochlear implants. This provides the context for discussion about the development of a novel means of using cochlear implant electrode arrays for gene electrotransfer. Mesenchymal cells which line the cochlear perilymphatic compartment can be selectively transfected with (naked) plasmid DNA using array - based gene electrotransfer, termed 'close-field electroporation'. This technology is able to drive expression of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the deafened guinea pig model, causing re-growth of the spiral ganglion peripheral neurites towards the mesenchymla cells, and hence into close proximity with cochlear implant electrodes within scala tympani. This was associated with functional enhancement of the cochlear implant neural interface (lower neural recruitment thresholds and expanded dynamic range, measured using electrically - evoked auditory brainstem responses). The basis for the efficiency of close-field electroporation arises from the compression of the electric field in proximity to the ganged cochlear implant electrodes. The regions close to the array with highest field strength corresponded closely to the distribution of bioreporter cells (adherent human embryonic kidney (HEK293)) expressing green fluorescent reporter protein (GFP) following gene electrotransfer. The optimization of the gene electrotransfer parameters using this cell-based model correlated closely with in vitro and in vivo cochlear gene delivery outcomes. The migration of the cochlear implant electrode array-based gene electrotransfer platform towards a clinical trial for neurotrophin-based enhancement of cochlear implants is supported by availability of a novel regulatory compliant mini-plasmid DNA backbone (pFAR4; plasmid Free of Antibiotic Resistance v.4) which could be used to package a 'humanized' neurotrophin expression cassette. A reporter cassette packaged into pFAR4 produced prominent GFP expression in the guinea pig basal turn perilymphatic scalae. More broadly, close-field gene electrotransfer may lend itself to a spectrum of potential DNA therapeutics applications benefitting from titratable, localised, delivery of naked DNA, for gene augmentation, targeted gene regulation, or gene substitution strategies.


Assuntos
Percepção Auditiva , Implante Coclear/instrumentação , Implantes Cocleares , Terapia Genética , Perda Auditiva/reabilitação , Audição , Fatores de Crescimento Neural/genética , Pessoas com Deficiência Auditiva/reabilitação , Animais , Percepção Auditiva/genética , Terapia Combinada , Eletroporação , Técnicas de Transferência de Genes , Audição/genética , Perda Auditiva/genética , Perda Auditiva/fisiopatologia , Perda Auditiva/psicologia , Humanos , Pessoas com Deficiência Auditiva/psicologia , Recuperação de Função Fisiológica , Resultado do Tratamento , Regulação para Cima
14.
Hear Res ; 380: 175-186, 2019 09 01.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31319285

RESUMO

Novel hearing therapeutics are rapidly progressing along the innovation pathway and into the clinical trial domain. Because these trials are new to the hearing community, they come with challenges in terms of trial design, regulation and delivery. In this paper, we address the key scientific and operational issues and outline the opportunities for interdisciplinary and international collaboration these trials offer. Vital to the future successful implementation of these therapeutics is to evaluate their potential for adoption into healthcare systems, including consideration of their health economic value. This requires early engagement with all stakeholder groups along the hearing innovation pathway.


Assuntos
Percepção Auditiva , Ensaios Clínicos como Assunto , Terapia Genética , Perda Auditiva/reabilitação , Audição , Pessoas com Deficiência Auditiva/reabilitação , Projetos de Pesquisa , Transplante de Células-Tronco , Percepção Auditiva/genética , Difusão de Inovações , Audição/genética , Perda Auditiva/genética , Perda Auditiva/fisiopatologia , Perda Auditiva/psicologia , Humanos , Pessoas com Deficiência Auditiva/psicologia , Recuperação de Função Fisiológica , Resultado do Tratamento
15.
Semin Cell Dev Biol ; 92: 134-138, 2019 08.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30965110

RESUMO

Can plants perceive sound? And what sounds are they likely to be "listening" to? The environment of plants includes many informative sounds, produced by biotic and abiotic sources. An ability to respond to these sounds could thus have a significant adaptive value for plants. We suggest the term phytoacoustics to describe the emerging field exploring sound emission and sound detection in plants, and review the recent studies published on these topics. We describe evidence of plant responses to sounds, varying from changes in gene expression to changes in pathogen resistance and nectar composition. The main focus of this review is the effect of airborne sounds on living plants. We also review work on sound emissions by plants, and plant morphological adaptations to sound. Finally, we discuss the ecological contexts where response to sound would be most advantageous to plants.


Assuntos
Percepção Auditiva/genética , Som , Plantas
16.
PLoS Biol ; 17(4): e3000194, 2019 04.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30973865

RESUMO

Adult-onset hearing loss is very common, but we know little about the underlying molecular pathogenesis impeding the development of therapies. We took a genetic approach to identify new molecules involved in hearing loss by screening a large cohort of newly generated mouse mutants using a sensitive electrophysiological test, the auditory brainstem response (ABR). We review here the findings from this screen. Thirty-eight unexpected genes associated with raised thresholds were detected from our unbiased sample of 1,211 genes tested, suggesting extreme genetic heterogeneity. A wide range of auditory pathophysiologies was found, and some mutant lines showed normal development followed by deterioration of responses, revealing new molecular pathways involved in progressive hearing loss. Several of the genes were associated with the range of hearing thresholds in the human population and one, SPNS2, was involved in childhood deafness. The new pathways required for maintenance of hearing discovered by this screen present new therapeutic opportunities.


Assuntos
Percepção Auditiva/genética , Potenciais Evocados Auditivos do Tronco Encefálico/genética , Perda Auditiva/genética , Estimulação Acústica/métodos , Adulto , Animais , Proteínas de Transporte de Ânions/genética , Criança , Fenômenos Eletrofisiológicos/genética , Potenciais Evocados Auditivos do Tronco Encefálico/fisiologia , Feminino , Estudos de Associação Genética , Audição/genética , Perda Auditiva/metabolismo , Humanos , Masculino , Camundongos , Camundongos Endogâmicos C57BL
17.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30617601

RESUMO

This review addresses the history of neuroethological studies on acoustic communication in insects. One objective is to reveal how basic ethological concepts developed in the 1930s, such as innate releasing mechanisms and fixed action patterns, have influenced the experimental and theoretical approaches to studying acoustic communication systems in Orthopteran insects. The idea of innateness of behaviors has directly fostered the search for central pattern generators that govern the stridulation patterns of crickets, katydids or grasshoppers. A central question pervading 50 years of research is how the essential match between signal features and receiver characteristics has evolved and is maintained during evolution. As in other disciplines, the tight interplay between technological developments and experimental and theoretical advances becomes evident throughout this review. While early neuroethological studies focused primarily on proximate questions such as the implementation of feature detectors or central pattern generators, later the interest shifted more towards ultimate questions. Orthoptera offer the advantage that both proximate and ultimate questions can be tackled in the same system. An important advance was the transition from laboratory studies under well-defined acoustic conditions to field studies that allowed to measure costs and benefits of acoustic signaling as well as constraints on song evolution.


Assuntos
Percepção Auditiva , Etologia , Audição , Ortópteros/fisiologia , Vocalização Animal , Estimulação Acústica , Animais , Percepção Auditiva/genética , Etologia/história , Potenciais Evocados Auditivos , Evolução Molecular , Feminino , Audição/genética , História do Século XX , História do Século XXI , Masculino , Ortópteros/genética , Reconhecimento Fisiológico de Modelo , Comportamento Sexual Animal
18.
Behav Processes ; 163: 45-52, 2019 Jun.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-29247695

RESUMO

Rhythm is an important aspect of both human speech and birdsong. Adult zebra finches show increased neural activity following exposure to arrhythmic compared to rhythmic song in regions similar to the mammalian auditory association cortex and amygdala. This pattern may indicate that birds are detecting errors in the arrhythmic song relative to their learned song template or to more general expectations of song structure. Here we exposed juvenile zebra finches to natural conspecific song (rhythmic) or song with altered inter-syllable intervals (arrhythmic) prior to or during template formation, or afterward as males are matching vocal production to a memorized song template (sensorimotor integration). Before template formation, expression of the immediate early gene ZENK was increased in the caudomedial nidopallium (NCM) of birds exposed to rhythmic relative to arrhythmic song. During template formation, ZENK expression was increased in the caudomedial mesopallium (CMM) of birds exposed to arrhythmic relative to rhythmic song. These results suggest that the youngest birds may be predisposed to respond to a more natural stimulus, and a template may be required for arrhythmic song to elicit increased neural activity. It also appears that functional development across the brain regions investigated continues to maturity.


Assuntos
Encéfalo/fisiologia , Tentilhões/fisiologia , Vocalização Animal/fisiologia , Estimulação Acústica , Animais , Percepção Auditiva/genética , Percepção Auditiva/fisiologia , Proteína 1 de Resposta de Crescimento Precoce/genética , Proteína 1 de Resposta de Crescimento Precoce/metabolismo , Feminino , Tentilhões/genética , Masculino , Periodicidade
19.
Behav Processes ; 163: 37-44, 2019 Jun.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-29274763

RESUMO

The auditory forebrain regions caudo-medial nidopallium (NCM) and caudo-medial mesopallium (CMM) of songbirds exhibit differential expression of the immediate-early gene ZENK in response to playback of different song stimuli, and dependent on early-life auditory experience. Similarly, song preferences depend both on auditory experience and unlearned biases for particular song features. We explored the contributions of early-life auditory experience and the type of song stimuli on the Zenk response in the auditory forebrain of female zebra finches. Females were raised in three different early tutoring conditions: conspecific tutors that sang isolate song, heterospecific tutors, or conspecific tutors that sang wild-type song. At maturity, these females were exposed to one of five different playback conditions: wild-type song, isolate song, tutor song, heterospecific song, or white noise. Subsequently, the number of cells immunoreactive for ZENK in CMM and NCM was measured. We predicted that birds exposed to conspecific song early in life, and during the song playback in adulthood, would have the highest neural response. Instead, we found that the Zenk response varied across playback conditions with the highest response to conspecific wild-type and conspecific isolate song. In addition, we found a main effect of tutoring, with the lowest overall Zenk response in females tutored by males singing isolate song. Most importantly, there was a significant interaction in that females tutored by wild-type conspecific or heterospecific songs showed a similar increased response to zebra finch songs (wild-type or isolate), but females tutored by isolate song showed no differential response to conspecific song and only showed elevated Zenk response to the particular songs they were tutored with. Combined, our results indicate that unlearned response biases to conspecific song elements depend on previous auditory experience. That is, early experience appears to modulate the expression of innate biases.


Assuntos
Percepção Auditiva/fisiologia , Tentilhões/fisiologia , Aprendizagem/fisiologia , Vocalização Animal , Estimulação Acústica , Animais , Percepção Auditiva/genética , Proteína 1 de Resposta de Crescimento Precoce/metabolismo , Feminino , Prosencéfalo/metabolismo
20.
J Neurosci ; 39(6): 984-1004, 2019 02 06.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30541910

RESUMO

Hearing depends on extracting frequency, intensity, and temporal properties from sound to generate an auditory map for acoustical signal processing. How physiology intersects with molecular specification to fine tune the developing properties of the auditory system that enable these aspects remains unclear. We made a novel conditional deletion model that eliminates the transcription factor NEUROD1 exclusively in the ear. These mice (both sexes) develop a truncated frequency range with no neuroanatomically recognizable mapping of spiral ganglion neurons onto distinct locations in the cochlea nor a cochleotopic map presenting topographically discrete projections to the cochlear nuclei. The disorganized primary cochleotopic map alters tuning properties of the inferior colliculus units, which display abnormal frequency, intensity, and temporal sound coding. At the behavioral level, animals show alterations in the acoustic startle response, consistent with altered neuroanatomical and physiological properties. We demonstrate that absence of the primary afferent topology during embryonic development leads to dysfunctional tonotopy of the auditory system. Such effects have never been investigated in other sensory systems because of the lack of comparable single gene mutation models.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT All sensory systems form a topographical map of neuronal projections from peripheral sensory organs to the brain. Neuronal projections in the auditory pathway are cochleotopically organized, providing a tonotopic map of sound frequencies. Primary sensory maps typically arise by molecular cues, requiring physiological refinements. Past work has demonstrated physiologic plasticity in many senses without ever molecularly undoing the specific mapping of an entire primary sensory projection. We genetically manipulated primary auditory neurons to generate a scrambled cochleotopic projection. Eliminating tonotopic representation to auditory nuclei demonstrates the inability of physiological processes to restore a tonotopic presentation of sound in the midbrain. Our data provide the first insights into the limits of physiology-mediated brainstem plasticity during the development of the auditory system.


Assuntos
Percepção Auditiva/genética , Percepção Auditiva/fisiologia , Fatores de Transcrição Hélice-Alça-Hélice Básicos/genética , Fatores de Transcrição Hélice-Alça-Hélice Básicos/fisiologia , Mesencéfalo/fisiologia , Percepção da Altura Sonora/fisiologia , Animais , Comportamento Animal/fisiologia , Mapeamento Encefálico , Núcleo Coclear/anatomia & histologia , Núcleo Coclear/fisiologia , Feminino , Audição/fisiologia , Colículos Inferiores/anatomia & histologia , Colículos Inferiores/fisiologia , Masculino , Mesencéfalo/embriologia , Camundongos , Camundongos Knockout , Gravidez , Reflexo de Sobressalto/genética , Reflexo de Sobressalto/fisiologia , Gânglio Espiral da Cóclea/citologia , Gânglio Espiral da Cóclea/fisiologia , Vestíbulo do Labirinto/anatomia & histologia , Vestíbulo do Labirinto/fisiologia
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