gms | German Medical Science

81st Annual Meeting of the German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery

German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery

12.05. - 16.05.2010, Wiesbaden

Determination of the apoptosis and cell survival signal transduction in the rat cochlea following neomycin induced deafness

Meeting Abstract

  • corresponding author Souvik Kar - Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
  • Thomas Lenarz - HNO Polyklinik, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
  • Timo Stoever - HNO Polyklinik, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
  • Kirsten Wissel - HNO Polyklinik, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
  • Verena Scheper - HNO Polyklinik, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Heilkunde, Kopf- und Hals-Chirurgie. 81. Jahresversammlung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Heilkunde, Kopf- und Hals-Chirurgie. Wiesbaden, 12.-16.05.2010. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2010. Doc10hnod332

doi: 10.3205/10hnod332, urn:nbn:de:0183-10hnod3329

Published: April 22, 2010

© 2010 Kar et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en). You are free: to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.


Outline

Text

Introduction: Sensorineural hearing loss is associated with loss of the hair cells in the cochlea. By the common hypothesis, cell death provoked by deafferentation of neurons may reflect deprivation of the neurotrophic factors. In this project signalling of neurotrophic factors in the context of apoptotic mechanisms in the auditory nerve (AN) by gene expression analysis following 7, 14, and 28 days deafening is determined.

Methods: Differential gene expression of BDNF and GDNF, their receptors trkB, p75NTR and GFRα1, the pro-apoptotic signal molecules caspase 9, Bax and anti-apoptotic signal molecules GLAST, Bcl-2 are being studied within this time interval by real time-PCR. For that total RNA was extracted from the AN of 20 normal and deafened animal, respectively, sacrificed after 7 day. Morphometric analysis of the AN degeneration was immunhistologically determined by spiral ganglion neuron (SGN) serial counts. Confirmation of the deafening process in 7day group was done by auditory brainstem response.

Results: Following the establishment of the housekeeping gene Rplp2 (ribosomal protein) as the internal standard we found an increase in the RNA level of GDNF and the receptors GFRα1, p75 and trkB demonstrating an early upregulation of neurotrophic factor. A significant 1.8 fold decrease of the SGN was demonstrated following 7 days deafening indicating strong apoptosis process.

Conclusion: In general, gene expression data cannot be related to function, however, they allow the verification of the neurotrophin hypothesis. As well, gene expression profiling may clarify the role of neurotrophic factors in the deafening process within the time intervall of deafness.

Supported by: Georg Christoph Lichtenberg Scholarship, Lower Saxony