Loss of Myh14 Increases Susceptibility to Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in CBA/CaJ Mice

Neural Plast. 2016:2016:6720420. doi: 10.1155/2016/6720420. Epub 2016 Dec 22.

Abstract

MYH14 is a member of the myosin family, which has been implicated in many motile processes such as ion-channel gating, organelle translocation, and the cytoskeleton rearrangement. Mutations in MYH14 lead to a DFNA4-type hearing impairment. Further evidence also shows that MYH14 is a candidate noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) susceptible gene. However, the specific roles of MYH14 in auditory function and NIHL are not fully understood. In the present study, we used CRISPR/Cas9 technology to establish a Myh14 knockout mice line in CBA/CaJ background (now referred to as Myh14-/- mice) and clarify the role of MYH14 in the cochlea and NIHL. We found that Myh14-/- mice did not exhibit significant hearing loss until five months of age. In addition, Myh14-/- mice were more vulnerable to high intensity noise compared to control mice. More significant outer hair cell loss was observed in Myh14-/- mice than in wild type controls after acoustic trauma. Our findings suggest that Myh14 may play a beneficial role in the protection of the cochlea after acoustic overstimulation in CBA/CaJ mice.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Auditory Threshold / physiology*
  • Cochlea / physiopathology*
  • Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem / genetics*
  • Genotype
  • Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced / genetics
  • Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced / physiopathology*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred Strains
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Myosin Heavy Chains / deficiency
  • Myosin Heavy Chains / metabolism*
  • Myosin Type II / deficiency
  • Myosin Type II / metabolism*

Substances

  • Myh14 protein, mouse
  • Myosin Type II
  • Myosin Heavy Chains