Length regulation of mechanosensitive stereocilia depends on very slow actin dynamics and filament-severing proteins

Praveena Narayanan, Paul Chatterton, Akihiro Ikeda, Sakae Ikeda, David P. Corey, James M. Ervasti and Benjamin J. Perrin ()
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Praveena Narayanan: Molecular Biology and Biophysics, University of Minnesota
Paul Chatterton: Molecular Biology and Biophysics, University of Minnesota
Akihiro Ikeda: University of Wisconsin–Madison
Sakae Ikeda: University of Wisconsin–Madison
David P. Corey: Harvard Medical School and Howard Hughes Medical Institute
James M. Ervasti: Molecular Biology and Biophysics, University of Minnesota
Benjamin J. Perrin: Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis

Nature Communications, 2015, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Auditory sensory hair cells depend on stereocilia with precisely regulated lengths to detect sound. Since stereocilia are primarily composed of crosslinked, parallel actin filaments, regulated actin dynamics are essential for controlling stereocilia length. Here we assessed stereocilia actin turnover by monitoring incorporation of inducibly expressed β-actin-GFP in adult mouse hair cells in vivo and by directly measuring β-actin-GFP turnover in explants. Stereocilia actin incorporation is remarkably slow and restricted to filament barbed ends in a small tip compartment, with minimal accumulation in the rest of the actin core. Shorter rows of stereocilia, which have mechanically gated ion channels, show more variable actin turnover than the tallest stereocilia, which lack channels. Finally, the proteins ADF and AIP1, which both mediate actin filament severing, contribute to stereocilia length maintenance. Altogether, the data support a model whereby stereocilia actin cores are largely static, with dynamic regulation at the tips to maintain a critical length.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms7855

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