Project description:Age-related hearing loss (AHL) is the progressive loss of auditory function with aging. The DBA/2J (DBA) mice have been used as a model of AHL and undergoes progressive, age-related hearing loss by 12 weeks of age. Here we analyzed cochlear gene expression of 7-week-old and 36-week-old DBA mice using microarrays. Auditory brainstem response (ABR) analysis confrimed that severe age-related hearing loss occured in 36-week-old mice, whereas moderate hearing loss occured in 7-week-old mice. Comprehensive gene expression analysis identified genes correlated with AHL and revealeed that 15 mitochondrial process categories, including â??mitochondrial electron transport chainâ??, â??oxidative phosphorylationâ??, â??respiratory chain complex Iâ??, â??respiratory chain complex IVâ??, and â??respiratory chain complex Vâ??, were statistically associated with AHL-correlated genes in the cochlea of 36-week-old DBA mice, and that 25 genes encoding components of the mitochondrial respiratory chain (respiratory chain complex I, IV, and V) were significantly down-regulated in the cochlea. These observations provide evidence that AHL is associated with down-regulation of genes involved in the mitochondrial respiratory chain in the cochlea of DBA mice, and suggest that mitochondrial respiratory chain dysfunction may be a key feature of AHL in mammalian cochlea. Experiment Overall Design: To determine the effects of age-related hearing loss, each 7-week-old sample (n = 3) was compared to each 36-week-old sample (n = 3), generating a total of nine pairwise comparisons. Using DAVIS and EASE, the identified genes were assign to â??GO: Biological Processâ?? categories of Gene Ontology Consortium. Furthermore, we used EASE to determine the total number of genes that were assigned to each biological process category, and to perform Fisher exact test. Quality control measures were not used. No replicates were done. Dye swap was not used.
Project description:Regular exercise significantly slowed age-related hearing loss (AHL) and cochlear degeneration in a well- established murine model.
Project description:Age-related hearing loss (AHL) is the progressive loss of auditory function with aging. The DBA/2J (DBA) mice have been used as a model of AHL and undergoes progressive, age-related hearing loss by 12 weeks of age. Here we analyzed cochlear gene expression of 7-week-old and 36-week-old DBA mice using microarrays. Auditory brainstem response (ABR) analysis confrimed that severe age-related hearing loss occured in 36-week-old mice, whereas moderate hearing loss occured in 7-week-old mice. Comprehensive gene expression analysis identified genes correlated with AHL and revealeed that 15 mitochondrial process categories, including “mitochondrial electron transport chain”, “oxidative phosphorylation”, “respiratory chain complex I”, “respiratory chain complex IV”, and “respiratory chain complex V”, were statistically associated with AHL-correlated genes in the cochlea of 36-week-old DBA mice, and that 25 genes encoding components of the mitochondrial respiratory chain (respiratory chain complex I, IV, and V) were significantly down-regulated in the cochlea. These observations provide evidence that AHL is associated with down-regulation of genes involved in the mitochondrial respiratory chain in the cochlea of DBA mice, and suggest that mitochondrial respiratory chain dysfunction may be a key feature of AHL in mammalian cochlea. Keywords: Disease state analysis, Time course analysis
Project description:Age-related hearing (ARHL) loss affects a large part of the human population with a major impact on our aging societies. Yet, underlying mechanisms are not understood, and no validated therapy or prevention exists. NADPH oxidases (NOX), are important sources of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the cochlea and might therefore be involved in the pathogenesis of ARHL. Here we investigate ARHL in a mouse model. Wild type mice showed early loss of hearing and cochlear integrity, while animals deficient in the NOX subunit p22phox remained unaffected up to six months. Genes of the excitatory pathway were down-regulated in p22phox-deficient auditory neurons. Our results demonstrate that NOX activity leads to upregulation of genes of the excitatory pathway, to excitotoxic cochlear damage, and ultimately to ARHL. In the absence of functional NOXs, aging mice conserve hearing and cochlear morphology. Our study offers new insights into pathomechanisms and future therapeutic targets of ARHL.
Project description:Next-Generation Sequencing techniques (i.e, targeted re-sequencing and whole exome sequencing) have been employed for the study of two Italian patients affected by age-related hearing loss and of an Italian family affected by hereditary hearing loss. Data analysis led to the identification of three variants in SPATC1L, associated with the clinical phenotype.
Project description:Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations may contribute to aging and age-related disorders. Previously, we created mice expressing a proofreading-deficient version of the mtDNA polymerase gamma (Polg) which accumulate age-related mtDNA mutations and display premature aging. Here we performed microarray gene expression profiling to identify mtDNA mutation-responsive genes in the cochlea of aged mitochondrial mutator mice. Age-related accumulation of mtDNA mutations was associated with transcriptional alternations consistent with reduced inner ear function, mitochondrial dysfunction, neurodegeneration, and reduced cell structural modulation. Hearing assessment and histopathological results confirmed that aged PolgD257A/D257A (D257A) mice exhibited moderate hearing loss and severe cochlear degenerations. Age-related accumulation of mtDNA mutations also resulted in alternations in gene expression consistent with induction of apoptosis, proteolysis, stress response, and reduced DNA repair. TUNEL (Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling) assay confirmed that the cochleae from aged D257A mice showed significantly more TUNEL positive cells compared to wild-type (WT) mice. The levels of cleaved caspase-3 were also found to increase in the cochleae of aged D257A mice. These observations provide evidence that age-related accumulation of mtDNA mutations is associated with apoptotic cell death in aged cochlea. Our results provide the first global view of molecular events associated with mtDNA mutations in postmitotic tissue, and suggest that apoptosis is the major mechanism of mtDNA mediated cell death in the development of age-related hearing disorder. Keywords: disease state analysis
Project description:Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) is the most common sensory impairment in the elderly affecting millions of people worldwide. To shed light on the genetics of ARHL, a large cohort of 464 Italian patients has been deeply analyzed at clinical and molecular level.
A missense variant in SLC9A3R1 has been identified in two unrelated ARHL patients. A knock-in zebrafish model confirmed the pathogenic effect of the variant.
Project description:Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) is the most common sensory degenerative disease and can significantly impact the quality of life in elderly people. A previous study using GeneChip miRNA microarray assays showed that the expression of miR-29a changes with age, however, its role in hearing loss is still unclear. In this study, we characterized the cochlear phenotype of miR-29a knockout (miR-29a-/-) mice and found that miR-29a-deficient mice had a rapid progressive elevation of the hearing threshold from 2 to 5 months of age compared with littermate controls as measured by the auditory brainstem response. Stereocilia degeneration, hair cell loss and abnormal stria vascularis were observed in miR-29a-/- mice at 4 months of age. Transcriptome sequencing results showed elevated extracellular matrix (ECM) gene expression in miR-29a-/- mice. Both GO annotation and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis revealed that the key differences were closely related to ECM. Further examination with a transmission electron microscope showed thickening of the basilar membrane in the cochlea of miR-29a-/- mice. Five Col4a genes (Col4a1-a5) and two laminin genes (Lamb2 and Lamc1) were validated as miR-29a direct targets by dual luciferase assays and miR-29a inhibition assays with a miR-29a inhibitor. Consistent with the target gene validation results, the expression of these genes was significantly increased in the cochlea of miR-29a-/- mice, as shown by RT-PCR and Western blot. These findings suggest that miR-29a plays an important role in maintaining cochlear structure and function by regulating the expression of collagen and laminin and that the disturbance of its expression could be a cause of progressive hearing loss.