A Novel Mouse Model of MYO7A USH1B Reveals Auditory and Visual System Haploinsufficiencies.

Kaitlyn R Calabro,Shannon E Boye,Shreyasi Choudhury,Diego Fajardo,Wei Li,James J Peterson,Sanford L Boye,Richard Salvi,Mi-Jung Kim,Dalian Ding,Shinichi Someya,Sean M Crosson

doi:10.3389/fnins.2019.01255

Kaitlyn R Calabro, Shannon E Boye + Show 10 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2019.01255

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Abstract

Usher’s syndrome is the most common combined blindness–deafness disorder with USH1B, caused by mutations in MYO7A, resulting in the most severe phenotype. The existence of numerous, naturally occurring shaker1 mice harboring variable MYO7A mutations on different genetic backgrounds has complicated the characterization of MYO7A knockout (KO) and heterozygote mice. We generated a novel MYO7A KO mouse (Myo7a–/–) that is easily genotyped, maintained, and confirmed to be null for MYO7A in both the eye and inner ear. Like USH1B patients, Myo7a–/– mice are profoundly deaf, and display near complete loss of inner and outer cochlear hair cells (HCs). No gross structural changes were observed in vestibular HCs. Myo7a–/– mice exhibited modest declines in retinal function but, unlike patients, no loss of retinal structure. We attribute the latter to differential expression of MYO7A in mouse vs. primate retina. Interestingly, heterozygous Myo7a+/– mice had reduced numbers of cochlear HCs and concomitant reductions in auditory function relative to Myo7a+/+ controls. Notably, this is the first report that loss of a single Myo7a allele significantly alters auditory structure and function and suggests that audiological characterization of USH1B carriers is warranted. Maintenance of vestibular HCs in Myo7a–/– mice suggests that gene replacement could be used to correct the vestibular dysfunction in USH1B patients. While Myo7a–/– mice do not exhibit sufficiently robust retinal phenotypes to be used as a therapeutic outcome measure, they can be used to assess expression of vectored MYO7A on a null background and generate valuable pre-clinical data toward the treatment of USH1B.

Highlights

Usher syndrome is the most frequent cause of combined deafness–blindness (Smith et al, 1994)
Our results demonstrate that Myo7a−/− mice, a newly established traditional KO model of USH1B, faithfully model the sensorineural hearing loss and degeneration of cochlear hair cells (HCs), but not the robust retinal dysfunction/degeneration seen in patients
A novel finding of this study is that Myo7a+/− mice exhibited sensorineural hearing loss, degeneration of basal HCs in the cochlea, and marginal reductions in retinal function

Summary

Introduction

Usher syndrome is the most frequent cause of combined deafness–blindness (Smith et al, 1994). Patients are born profoundly deaf, have vestibular dysfunction, and exhibit progressive loss of vision in their first decade (Petit, 2001). Novel USH1B Mouse Model cells (HCs) of the inner ear and the retina. It is expressed early in auditory and vestibular HC development and is required for proper differentiation and development of stereocilia bundles (Roccio et al, 2018). The absence/malformation of cochlear HCs suggests that gene supplementation will not be an effective strategy for restoring hearing to USH1B patients. Their hearing loss can be addressed with cochlear implantation. It is possible that gene supplementation targeted to these preserved regions will be an effective strategy for restoring/preserving vision in these patients

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