title: Reduced Connexin26 in the Mature Cochlea Increases Susceptibility to Noise-Induced Hearing Lossin Mice.
abstract: Connexin26 (Cx26, encoded by GJB2) mutations are the most common cause of non-syndromic deafness. GJB2 is thought to be involved in noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). However, the role of Cx26 in NIHL is still obscure. To explore the association between Cx26 and NIHL, we established a Cx26 knockdown (KD) mouse model by conditional knockdown of Cx26 at postnatal day 18 (P18), and then we observed the auditory threshold and morphologic changes in these mice with or without noise exposure. The Cx26 KD mice did not exhibit substantial hearing loss and hair cell degeneration, while the Cx26 KD mice with acoustic trauma experienced higher hearing loss than simple noise exposure siblings and nearly had no recovery. Additionally, extensive outer hair cell loss and more severe destruction of the basal organ of Corti were observed in Cx26 KD mice after noise exposure. These data indicate that reduced Cx26 expression in the mature mouse cochlea may increase susceptibility to noise-induced hearing loss and facilitate the cell degeneration in the organ of Corti.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Jiefang Avenue 1277, Wuhan 430022, China. star1028@126.com.
authors.forename: Xing-Xing
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Jiefang Avenue 1277, Wuhan 430022, China. cs88030067@sina.com.
authors.forename: Sen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Jiefang Avenue 1277, Wuhan 430022, China. leoxie5842@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Le
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Jiefang Avenue 1277, Wuhan 430022, China. jiyuzi1987@sina.com.
authors.forename: Yu-Zi
authors.initials: YZ
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Jiefang Avenue 1277, Wuhan 430022, China. wuxia027@163.com.
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Jiefang Avenue 1277, Wuhan 430022, China. wangwenwen@hust.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Wen-Wen
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Jiefang Avenue 1277, Wuhan 430022, China. yangqitj@sina.com.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Jiefang Avenue 1277, Wuhan 430022, China. yujintaoly@163.com.
authors.forename: Jin-Tao
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Jiefang Avenue 1277, Wuhan 430022, China. sunyu@hust.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, 615 Michael Street, Whitehead Bldg Rm#543, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. xlin2@emory.edu.
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Jiefang Avenue 1277, Wuhan 430022, China. entwjkong@hust.edu.cn.|Institute of Otorhinolaryngology, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China. entwjkong@hust.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Wei-Jia
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Kong
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D003051:Cochlea / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D000072259:Connexin 26; D017630:Connexins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D017353:Gene Deletion; D006317:Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice
chemical_list: D017630:Connexins; D000072259:Connexin 26
keywords: Connexin26; GJB2; noise-induced hearing loss