Change in the protofilamentnumber and β5-tubulin appearance in supporting cells during development of the hearing organ.

TL;DRAbstract

The supporting cells of the hearing organ are characterized by the presence of an abundant cytoskeleton which is mainly composed of microtubules. These supporting cells have also been shown to contain a minor mammalian tubulin, the β5-tubulin, recently reported as a biomarker of cell proliferation. It was shown that a β-tubulin isoform can specify the microtubule architecture, as seen with the expression of the Moth β2 tubulin in the Drosophila testes which imposes the 16-protofilament (16pf) structure on the corresponding subset of Drosophila microtubules. Moreover, supporting cell microtubules are formed by 15pf instead of the canonical 13, a unique fact among vertebrates. Such a protofilament configuration has been observed in C. elegans’ neurons which are responsible for the mechanosensory sense of touch. It was also shown that these 15pf microtubules were essential to the proper functioning of these neurons. To determine the role of this particular tubulin in the auditory organ an

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