Spectrin βV adaptive mutations and changes in subcellular location correlate with emergence of hair cell electromotility in mammalians.

ABSTRACT: The remarkable hearing capacities of mammals arise from various evolutionary innovations. These include the cochlear outer hair cells and their singular feature, somatic electromotility, i.e., the ability of their cylindrical cell body to shorten and elongate upon cell depolarization and hyperpolarization, respectively. To shed light on the processes underlying the emergence of electromotility, we focused on the βV giant spectrin, a major component of the outer hair cells' cortical cytoskeleton. We identified strong signatures of adaptive evolution at multiple sites along the spectrin-βV amino acid sequence in the lineage leading to mammals, together with substantial differences in the subcellular location of this protein between the frog and the mouse inner ear hair cells. In frog hair ce

SUBMITTER: Cortese M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5338438 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature