Mechanosensory hair cells are vulnerable to environmental insult, resulting in hearing and balance disorders. We demonstrate that directional compartmental flow of intracellular Ca 2ϩ underlies death in zebrafish lateral line hair cells after exposure to aminoglycoside antibiotics, a well characterized hair cell toxin. Ca 2ϩ is mobilized from the ER and transferred to mitochondria via IP 3 channels with little cytoplasmic leakage. Pharmacological agents that shunt ER-derived Ca 2ϩ directly to cytoplasm mitigate toxicity, indicating that high cytoplasmic Ca 2ϩ levels alone are not cytotoxic. Inhibition of the mitochondrial transition pore sensitizes hair cells to the toxic effects of aminoglycosides, contrasting with current models of excitotoxicity. Hair cells display efficient ER-mitochondrial Ca 2ϩ flow, suggesting that tight coupling of these organelles drives mitochondrial activity under physiological conditions at the cost of increased susceptibility to toxins.

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Intracellular Ca2+ is a key regulator of life or death decisions in cultured neurons and sensory cells. The role of Ca2+ in these processes is less clear in vivo, as the location of these cells often impedes visualization of intracellular Ca2+ dynamics. We generated transgenic zebrafish lines that express the genetically encoded Ca2+ indicator GCaMP in mechanosensory hair cells of the lateral line. These lines allow us to monitor intracellular Ca2+ dynamics in real time during aminoglycoside-induced hair cell death. Following exposure of live larvae to aminoglycosides, dying hair cells undergo a transient increase in intracellular Ca2+ that occurs shortly after mitochondrial membrane potential collapse. Inhibition of intracellular Ca2+ elevation through either caged chelators or pharmacological inhibitors of Ca2+ effectors mitigates toxic effects of aminoglycoside exposure. Conversely, artificial elevation of intracellular Ca2+ by caged Ca2+ release agents sensitizes hair cells to the toxic effects of aminoglycosides. These data suggest that alterations in intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis play an essential role in aminoglycoside-induced hair cell death, and indicate several potential therapeutic targets to stem ototoxicity.

The vertebrate inner ear arises from the otic placode, a transient thickening of ectodermal epithelium adjacent to neural crest domains in the presumptive head. During late gastrulation, cells fated to comprise the inner ear are part of a domain in cranial ectoderm that contain precursors of all sensory placodes, termed the preplacodal region (PPR). The combination of low levels of BMP activity coupled with high levels of FGF signaling are required to establish the PPR through induction of members of the six/eya/dach, iro, and dlx families of transcription factors. The zebrafish dlx3b/4b transcription factors are expressed at the neural plate border where they play partially redundant roles in the specification of the PPR, otic and olfactory placodes. We demonstrate that dlx3b/4b assist in establishing the PPR through the transcriptional regulation of the BMP antagonist cv2. Morpholino-mediated knockdown of Dlx3b/4b results in loss of cv2 expression in the PPR and a transient increase in Bmp4 activity that lasts throughout early somitogenesis. Through the cv2-mediated inhibition of BMP activity, dlx3b/4b create an environment where FGF activity is favorable for PPR and otic marker expression. Our results provide insight into the mechanisms of PPR specification as well as the role of dlx3b/4b function in PPR and otic placode induction.