Blindness and auditory impairment caused by loss of the sodium bicarbonate cotransporter NBC3 |
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Authors: | Bok Dean Galbraith Gary Lopez Ivan Woodruff Michael Nusinowitz Steven BeltrandelRio Hector Huang Wenhu Zhao Shulei Geske Robert Montgomery Charles Van Sligtenhorst Isaac Friddle Carl Platt Kenneth Sparks Mary Jean Pushkin Alexander Abuladze Natalia Ishiyama Akira Dukkipati Ramanath Liu Weixin Kurtz Ira |
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Institution: | Department of Neurobiology, Jules Stein Eye Institute, Los Angeles, California, 90095, USA. |
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Abstract: | Normal sensory transduction requires the efficient disposal of acid (H+) generated by neuronal and sensory receptor activity. Multiple highly sensitive transport mechanisms have evolved in prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms to maintain acidity within strict limits. It is currently assumed that the multiplicity of these processes provides a biological robustness. Here we report that the visual and auditory systems have a specific requirement for H+ disposal mediated by the sodium bicarbonate cotransporter NBC3 (refs. 7,8). Mice lacking NBC3 develop blindness and auditory impairment because of degeneration of sensory receptors in the eye and inner ear as in Usher syndrome. Our results indicate that in certain sensory organs, in which the requirement to transduce specific environmental signals with speed, sensitivity and reliability is paramount, the choice of the H+ disposal mechanism used is limited. |
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