@article{83224a11bdf24ea99fb2b46a4dfe0697,
title = "The presynaptic ribbon maintains vesicle populations at the hair cell afferent fiber synapse",
abstract = "The ribbon is the structural hallmark of cochlear inner hair cell (IHC) afferent synapses, yet its role in information transfer to spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs) remains unclear. We investigated the ribbon{\textquoteright}s contribution to IHC synapse formation and function using KO mice lacking RIBEYE. Despite loss of the entire ribbon structure, synapses retained their spatiotemporal development and KO mice had a mild hearing deficit. IHCs of KO had fewer synaptic vesicles and reduced exocytosis in response to brief depolarization; a high stimulus level rescued exocytosis in KO. SGNs exhibited a lack of sustained excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs). We observed larger postsynaptic glutamate receptor plaques, potentially compensating for the reduced EPSC rate in KO. Surprisingly, large-amplitude EPSCs were maintained in KO, while a small population of low-amplitude slower EPSCs was increased in number. The ribbon facilitates signal transduction at physiological stimulus levels by retaining a larger residency pool of synaptic vesicles.",
author = "Lars Becker and Schnee, {Michael E.} and Mamiko Niwa and Willy Sun and Stephan Maxeiner and Sara Talaei and Bechara Kachar and Rutherford, {Mark A.} and Ricci, {Anthony J.}",
note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), Grants R01DC014712 to MAR. MAR was also supported by an International Project Grant from Action on Hearing Loss. Further support came from NIDCD grant F32 4F32 DC013721 grant to MN; Intramural Research Program (Z01-DC000002) and NIDCD Advanced Imaging Core (ZIC DC000081) grants to WS and BK and (RO1DC009913 and core grant P30 44992) to AJR. We thank Autefeh Sajjadi for her help with genotyping animals and basic husbandry. We thank Bill Roberts for comments on the manuscript. Funding Information: This work was supported by National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), Grants R01DC014712 to MAR. MAR was also supported by an International Project Grant from Action on Hearing Loss. Further support came from NIDCD grant F32 4F32 DC013721 grant to MN; Intramural Research Program (Z01-DC000002) and NIDCD Advanced Imaging Core (ZIC DC000081) grants to WS and BK and (RO1DC009913 and core grant P30 44992) to AJR. We thank Autefeh Sajjadi for her help with genotyping animals and basic husbandry. We thank Bill Roberts for comments on the manuscript. National Institutes of Health DC009913 Anthony J Ricci Action on Hearing Loss Mark A Rutherford National Institutes of Health DC014712 Mark A Rutherford National Institutes of Health DC013721 Mamiko Niwa National Institutes of Health P30 44992 Anthony J Ricci National Institutes of Health Z01-DC000002 Willy Sun Bechara Kachar National Institutes of Health ZIC DC000081 Willy Sun Bechara Kachar. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018, eLife Sciences Publications Ltd. All rights reserved.",
year = "2018",
month = jan,
day = "12",
doi = "10.7554/eLife.30241",
language = "English",
volume = "7",
journal = "eLife",
issn = "2050-084X",
}