A point mutation in the hair cell nicotinic cholinergic receptor prolongs cochlear inhibition and enhances noise protection.

ABSTRACT: The transduction of sound in the auditory periphery, the cochlea, is inhibited by efferent cholinergic neurons projecting from the brainstem and synapsing directly on mechanosensory hair cells. One fundamental question in auditory neuroscience is what role(s) this feedback plays in our ability to hear. In the present study, we have engineered a genetically modified mouse model in which the magnitude and duration of efferent cholinergic effects are increased, and we assess the consequences of this manipulation on cochlear function. We generated the Chrna9L9'T line of knockin mice with a threonine for leucine change (L9'T) at position 9' of the second transmembrane domain of the alpha9 nicotinic cholinergic subunit, rendering alpha9-containing receptors that were hypersensitive to acetylchol

SUBMITTER: Taranda J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2628405 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature