Abstract
Age-related hearing loss is a progressive sensorineural hearing loss that occurs during aging. Degeneration of the organ of Corti and atrophy of the lateral wall of the cochlear duct (or scala media) in the inner ear are the two primary causes. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a class of short non-coding RNAs that regulate the expression of mRNA/protein targets, are important regulators of cellular senescence and aging. We examined miRNA gene expression profiles in the lateral wall of two mouse strains, along with exploration of the potential targets of those miRNAs that showed dynamic expression during aging. We show that 95 and 60 miRNAs exhibited differential expression in C57 and CBA mice during aging, respectively. A majority of downregulated miRNAs are known to regulate pathways of cell proliferation and differentiation, while all upregulated miRNAs are known regulators in the pro-apoptotic pathways. By using apoptosis-related gene array and bioinformatic approaches to predict miRNA targets, we identify candidate miRNA-regulated genes that regulate apoptosis pathways in the lateral wall of C57 and CBA mice during aging.
Highlights
Age-related hearing loss (ARHL), known as presbycusis, is a progressive sensorineural hearing loss
Stria-originated ARHL is usually characterized by reduction of endocochlear potential (EP) and atrophy/degeneration of the lateral wall (LW)
Hearing threshold and EP are often measured to assess the functional status of the OC and the LW of the scala media
Summary
Age-related hearing loss (ARHL), known as presbycusis, is a progressive sensorineural hearing loss. It has been reported that as many as 30 to 35% of the population aged between 65 and 75 have ARHL [1,2]. The prevalence and severity of hearing loss are much higher in populations older than 80 [3]. A recent study shows that more than 95% of centenarians suffer from severe to profound hearing loss [4]. The two major causes are due to degeneration of the organ of Corti (OC) and the lateral wall (LW) of the scala media, which includes the stria vascularis (SV) and the spiral ligament [6,7]. Stria-originated ARHL is usually characterized by reduction of EP and atrophy/degeneration of the LW
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