Progressive hearing loss and gradual deterioration of sensory hair bundles in the ears of mice lacking the actin-binding protein Eps8L2.

ABSTRACT: Mechanotransduction in the mammalian auditory system depends on mechanosensitive channels in the hair bundles that project from the apical surface of the sensory hair cells. Individual stereocilia within each bundle contain a core of tightly packed actin filaments, whose length is dynamically regulated during development and in the adult. We show that the actin-binding protein epidermal growth factor receptor pathway substrate 8 (Eps8)L2, a member of the Eps8-like protein family, is a newly identified hair bundle protein that is localized at the tips of stereocilia of both cochlear and vestibular hair cells. It has a spatiotemporal expression pattern that complements that of Eps8. In the cochlea, whereas Eps8 is essential for the initial elongation of stereocilia, Eps8L2 is required for th

SUBMITTER: Furness DN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3752214 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature