MyosinVIIa interacts with Twinfilin-2 at the tips of mechanosensory stereocilia in the inner ear.

ABSTRACT: In vertebrates hearing is dependent upon the microvilli-like mechanosensory stereocilia and their length gradation. The staircase-like organization of the stereocilia bundle is dynamically maintained by variable actin turnover rates. Two unconventional myosins were previously implicated in stereocilia length regulation but the mechanisms of their action remain unknown. MyosinXVa is expressed in stereocilia tips at levels proportional to stereocilia length and its absence produces staircase-like bundles of very short stereocilia. MyosinVIIa localizes to the tips of the shorter stereocilia within bundles, and when absent, the stereocilia are abnormally long. We show here that myosinVIIa interacts with twinfilin-2, an actin binding protein, which inhibits actin polymerization at the barbed en

SUBMITTER: Rzadzinska AK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2743196 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature