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Deafness and imbalance associated with inactivation of the secretory Na-K-2Cl co-transporter

Nature Genetics volume 22, pages 192–195 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

Deafness can result from a variety of gene defects1. Some genes involved in the physiology of hearing encode membrane transporters that regulate the ionic composition of the fluid bathing the inner ear. The endolymph is an extracellular fluid with an atypical composition that resembles the intracellular milieu, high in K+ and low in Na+. Recent studies have emphasized the prominent role of K+ channels in endolymph secretion2,3,4 and mechanical transduction5. Coupled electroneutral transport of Na+, K+ and Cl- is mediated by two isoforms of the Na-K-2Cl co-transporter: the absorptive isoform BSC1 (also called NKCC2, encoded by Slc12a1 in mouse) that is exclusively expressed in kidney; and BSC2/NKCC1 (encoded by Slc12a2 in mouse), the secretory isoform which has a wider pattern of expression including epithelia, muscle cells, neurons and red blood cells6,7. These co-transporters share 57% homology at the amino acid level8,9,10,11 and are pharmacologically inhibited by loop diuretics. There is functional12,13,14 and histochemical15,16,17 evidence for the presence of the secretory isoform of the Na-K-2Cl co-transporter in gerbil, rat and rabbit inner ear. We disrupted mouse Slc12a2 and report here that Slc12a2-/- mice are deaf and exhibit classic shaker/waltzer behaviour, indicative of inner-ear defects. We localized the co-transporter to key secreting epithelia of the mouse inner ear and show that absence of functional co-transporter leads to structural damages in the inner ear consistent with a decrease in endolymph secretion.

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Figure 1: Disruption of Slc12a2.
Figure 2: Thionin staining of cochlea.
Figure 3: High-power magnification of hair cells of the organ of Corti.
Figure 4: Immunolocalization of Na-K-2Cl co-transporter in mouse inner ear.

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Acknowledgements

We thank The Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center Transgenic/ES Cell Shared Resource Core for expertise and help, and D.B. Mount for helpful discussions. This work was supported by NHLBI and a Vanderbilt University Medical Center intramural grant. E.D. is an Established Investigator from the American Heart Association.

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  1. Anesthesiology Research Division, Laboratories of Cellular & Molecular Physiology, and Center for Molecular Neuroscience, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, 37232, Tennessee, USA

    Eric Delpire, Jianming Lu, Roger England, Christopher Dull & Tina Thorne

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Correspondence to Eric Delpire.

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Delpire, E., Lu, J., England, R. et al. Deafness and imbalance associated with inactivation of the secretory Na-K-2Cl co-transporter. Nat Genet 22, 192–195 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/9713

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