The PDZ-domain protein whirlin facilitates mechanosensory signaling in mammalian proprioceptors

de Nooij, Joriene C.; Simon, Christian M.; Simon, Anna; Doobar, Staceyann; Steel, Karen P.; Banks, Robert W.; Mentis, George Z.; Bewick, Guy S.; Jessell, Thomas M.

doi:10.1523/jneurosci.3699-14.2015

The PDZ-domain protein whirlin facilitates mechanosensory signaling in mammalian proprioceptors

de Nooij, Joriene C.; Simon, Christian M.; Simon, Anna; Doobar, Staceyann; Steel, Karen P.; Banks, Robert W.; Mentis, George Z.; Bewick, Guy S.; Jessell, Thomas M.

Authors

Joriene C. de Nooij

Christian M. Simon

Anna Simon

Staceyann Doobar

Karen P. Steel

Robert Banks r.w.banks@durham.ac.uk
Academic Visitor

George Z. Mentis

Guy S. Bewick

Thomas M. Jessell

Abstract

Mechanoreception is an essential feature of many sensory modalities. Nevertheless, the mechanisms that govern the conversion of a mechanical force to distinct patterns of action potentials remain poorly understood. Proprioceptive mechanoreceptors reside in skeletal muscle and inform the nervous system of the position of body and limbs in space. We show here that Whirlin/Deafness autosomal recessive 31 (DFNB31), a PDZ-scaffold protein involved in vestibular and auditory hair cell transduction, is also expressed by proprioceptive sensory neurons (pSNs) in dorsal root ganglia in mice. Whirlin localizes to the peripheral sensory endings of pSNs and facilitates pSN afferent firing in response to muscle stretch. The requirement of Whirlin in both proprioceptors and hair cells suggests that accessory mechanosensory signaling molecules define common features of mechanoreceptive processing across sensory systems.

Citation

de Nooij, J. C., Simon, C. M., Simon, A., Doobar, S., Steel, K. P., Banks, R. W., …Jessell, T. M. (2015). The PDZ-domain protein whirlin facilitates mechanosensory signaling in mammalian proprioceptors. Journal of Neuroscience, 35(7), 3073-3084. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.3699-14.2015

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Jan 6, 2015
Publication Date	Feb 18, 2015
Deposit Date	Feb 19, 2015
Publicly Available Date	Apr 13, 2015
Journal	Journal of Neuroscience
Print ISSN	0270-6474
Electronic ISSN	1529-2401
Publisher	Society for Neuroscience
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	35
Issue	7
Pages	3073-3084
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.3699-14.2015
Keywords	Mechanoreception, Muscle spindle, PDZ proteins, Proprioceptors, Sensory-motor control.

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Copyright © 2015 de Nooij et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License
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medium providedthatthe original work is properly attributed.