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Hearing loss or ototoxicity is one of the major side effects associated with the use of the antibiotics, particularly aminoglycosides (AGs), which are the most commonly used antibiotics worldwide. However, the molecular and cellular events involved in the antibiotic-induced ototoxicity remains unclear. In the present study, we test the possibility that prestin, the motor protein specifically expressed in the basolateral membrane of outer hair cells (OHCs) in the cochlea with electromotility responsible for sound amplification, may be involved in the process of AG-induced apoptosis in OHCs. Our results from both mice model and cultured cell line indicate a previously unexpected role of prestin, in mediating antibiotic-induced apoptosis, the effect of which is associated with its anion-transporting capacity. The observed downregulation of prestin mRNA prior to detectable apoptosis in OHCs and hearing loss in the antibiotic-treated mice is interesting, which may serve as a protective mechanism against hearing loss induced by AGs in the early stage.

Mammalian cells in vivo frequently express primary cilia. Although some fully differentiated cell types rarely, if ever, express them, most do, indicating that they are regular cell organelles. Their expression can also be explored in vitro, where conditions--physical and chemical, intrinsic and extrinsic--permit experimental approaches which give far greater control than in vivo. This 'state of the art' paper covers briefly the general biology of primary cilia, highlights the current situation with regard to our understanding of their relevance and importance in cell biology from various facets of our recent research, much of it in collaboration with other laboratories world-wide, and outline future work aimed at answering some basic and applied questions about them, within a context of an increasing awareness that signalling between cells is of the utmost importance in understanding proliferation control and its value in cancer research, the major remit of this unit.