First published online June 23, 2005
Journal of Cell Science 118, 1304e (2005)
© The Company of Biologists Limited
A hearing aid with an unconventional motor
Myosin motors are involved in numerous cellular processes, ranging from cell movement to signal transduction. Each myosin includes an actin-binding head region and a variable tail region, whose sequence determines its cellular localization and function. Several unconventional myosins (i.e. myosins other than muscle myosin II) are involved in hair bundle development in the inner ear, and their mutation causes hearing loss in humans and mice. Christine Petit and colleagues now identify PHR1, a membrane protein present in the inner ear sensory cells, as the first known myosin-Ic-binding partner (see p. 2891). They report that PHR1 also binds to myosin VIIa and show that it directly interacts with both myosins through its pleckstrin homology (PH) domain. The two myosins and PHR1 localize to a region of the inner ear sensory cells characterised by dense vesicular traffic. Interactions between these proteins might therefore be involved in the sorting of proteins en route to the hair bundle. In addition, the authors suggest, a three-way interaction between the two motors and PHR1 could regulate mechanotransduction in mature hair cells.
Related articles in JCS:
- PHR1, an integral membrane protein of the inner ear sensory cells, directly interacts with myosin 1c and myosin VIIa
- Raphaël Etournay, Aziz El-Amraoui, Amel Bahloul, Stéphane Blanchard, Isabelle Roux, Guillaume Pézeron, Nicolas Michalski, Laurent Daviet, Jean-Pierre Hardelin, Pierre Legrain, and Christine Petit
JCS 2005 118: 2891-2899.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
