Down-regulation of otospiralin mRNA in response to acoustic stress in guinea pig

Noise over-stimulation will induce or influence molecular pathways in the cochlea; one approach to the identification of the components of these pathways in the cochlea is to examine genes and proteins that change following different types and levels of stress. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction provides a method to look at differential expression of genes in the acoustic stress response. By using this technique we have revealed a down-regulation of the level of otospiralin mRNA in the cochlea of guinea pigs after white noise over-stimulation for 2 h at 108 dB SPL. Otospiralin represents an inner ear specific protein found in fibrocytes of spiral limbus and spiral ligament in the cochlea, and some regions of the vestibule as the stroma underlying the utricle and crista sensory epithelia and the subepithelial layer of the walls of semicircular canals and maculae. It has been recently reported that transient down-regulation of otospiralin in guinea pigs causes vestibular syndrome and deafness. Our results suggest a possible role of this gene in response to acoustical stress, although the exact mechanism remains to be resolved.