Ca ²⁺ enters the stereocilia of hair cells through mechanoelectrical transduction channels opened by the deflection of the hair bundle and is exported back to endolymph by an unusual splicing isoform ( w / a ) of plasma-membrane calcium-pump isoform 2 (PMCA2). Ablation or missense mutations of the pump cause deafness, as described for the G283S mutation in the deafwaddler ( dfw ) mouse. A deafness-inducing missense mutation of PMCA2 (G293S) has been identified in a human family. The family also was screened for mutations in cadherin 23, which accentuated hearing loss in a previously described human family with a PMCA2 mutation. A T1999S substitution was detected in the cadherin 23 gene of the healthy father and affected son but not in that of the unaffected mother, who presented instead the PMCA2 mutation. The w / a isoform was overexpressed in CHO cells. At variance with the other PMCA2 isoforms, it became activated only marginally when exposed to a Ca ²⁺ pulse. The G293S and G283S mutations delayed the dissipation of Ca ²⁺ transients induced in CHO cells by InsP ₃ . In organotypic cultures, Ca ²⁺ imaging of vestibular hair cells showed that the dissipation of stereociliary Ca ²⁺ transients induced by Ca ²⁺ uncaging was compromised in the dfw and PMCA2 knockout mice, as was the sensitivity of the mechanoelectrical transduction channels to hair bundle displacement in cochlear hair cells.

In Drosophila , Pumilio (Pum) is important for neuronal homeostasis as well as learning and memory. We have recently characterized a mammalian homolog of Pum, Pum2, which is found in discrete RNA-containing particles in the somatodendritic compartment of polarized neurons. In this study, we investigated the role of Pum2 in developing and mature neurons by RNA interference. In immature neurons, loss of Pum2 led to enhanced dendritic outgrowth and arborization. In mature neurons, Pum2 down-regulation resulted in a significant reduction in dendritic spines and an increase in elongated dendritic filopodia. Furthermore, we observed an increase in excitatory synapse markers along dendritic shafts. Electrophysiological analysis of synaptic function of neurons lacking Pum2 revealed an increased miniature excitatory postsynaptic current frequency. We then identified two specific mRNAs coding for a known translational regulator, eIF4E, and for a voltage-gated sodium channel, Scn1a, which interacts with Pum2 in immunoprecipitations from brain lysates. Finally, we show that Pum2 regulates translation of the eIF4E mRNA. Taken together, our data reveal a previously undescribed role for Pum2 in dendrite morphogenesis, synapse function, and translational control.

Progressive hearing loss is common in the human population, but we have few clues to the molecular basis. Mouse mutants with progressive hearing loss offer valuable insights, and ENU (N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea) mutagenesis is a useful way of generating models. We have characterised a new ENU-induced mouse mutant, Oblivion (allele symbol Obl), showing semi-dominant inheritance of hearing impairment. Obl/+ mutants showed increasing hearing impairment from post-natal day (P)20 to P90, and loss of auditory function was followed by a corresponding base to apex progression of hair cell degeneration. Obl/Obl mutants were small, showed severe vestibular dysfunction by 2 weeks of age, and were completely deaf from birth; sensory hair cells were completely degenerate in the basal turn of the cochlea, although hair cells appeared normal in the apex. We mapped the mutation to Chromosome 6. Mutation analysis of Atp2b2 showed a missense mutation (2630C→T) in exon 15, causing a serine to phenylalanine substitution (S877F) in transmembrane domain 6 of the PMCA2 pump, the resident Ca²⁺ pump of hair cell stereocilia. Transmembrane domain mutations in these pumps generally are believed to be incompatible with normal targeting of the protein to the plasma membrane. However, analyses of hair cells in cultured utricular maculae of Obl/Obl mice and of the mutant Obl pump in model cells showed that the protein was correctly targeted to the plasma membrane. Biochemical and biophysical characterisation showed that the pump had lost a significant portion of its non-stimulated Ca²⁺ exporting ability. These findings can explain the progressive loss of auditory function, and indicate the limits in our ability to predict mechanism from sequence alone. Progressive hearing loss is very common in the human population, but we know little about the causes. Environmental and genetic factors each may contribute. Knowledge of the genetic variants involved in hearing loss and understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanism of their action will aid the development of better treatments. One of the few genes known to be involved, in both mouse and humans, is Atp2b2, which encodes a calcium pump. We have discovered a new mutation in this gene leading to hearing loss in the mouse mutant oblivion. The mutation leads to a serine to phenylalanine substitution in a transmembrane domain. Mutations affecting such transmembrane domains are usually expected to interfere with the normal process of inserting the protein in the membrane and transporting it to its final destination on the plasma membrane of the cell. Surprisingly, the pump is produced and is targeted to the plasma membrane, in both cultured cells expressing the mutant gene and sensory hair cells from the oblivion mutant inner ear. However, we show it has impaired calcium pumping ability, which can account for the progressive hearing loss as well as the progressive degeneration of the sensory hair cells that we observe in the mutants.

The mechanotransduction process in hair cells in the inner ear is associated with the influx of calcium from the endolymph. Calcium is exported back to the endolymph via the splice variant w/a of the PMCA2 of the stereocilia membrane. To further investigate the role of the pump, we have identified and characterized a novel ENU-induced mouse mutation, Tommy, in the PMCA2 gene. The mutation causes a non-conservative E629K change in the second intracellular loop of the pump that harbors the active site. Tommy mice show profound hearing impairment from P18, with significant differences in hearing thresholds between wild type and heterozygotes. Expression of mutant PMCA2 in CHO cells shows calcium extrusion impairment; specifically, the long term, non-stimulated calcium extrusion activity of the pump is inhibited. Calcium extrusion was investigated directly in neonatal organotypic cultures of the utricle sensory epithelium in Tommy mice. Confocal imaging combined with flash photolysis of caged calcium showed impairment of calcium export in both Tommy heterozygotes and homozygotes. Immunofluorescence studies of the organ of Corti in homozygous Tommy mice showed a progressive base to apex degeneration of hair cells after P40. Our results on the Tommy mutation along with previously observed interactions between cadherin-23 and PMCA2 mutations in mouse and humans underline the importance of maintaining the appropriate calcium concentrations in the endolymph to control the rigidity of cadherin and ensure the function of interstereocilia links, including tip links, of the stereocilia bundle.