Behavior of Primary Cilia and Tricellular Tight Junction Proteins during Differentiation in Temperature-Sensitive...

In the sensory hair cells of the mammalian cochlea, the primary cilia in the planar cell polarity as well as the tight junctions in the epithelial cell polarity and the barrier are important to maintain normal hearing. Temperature-sensitive mouse cochlear precursor hair cells were used to investigate the behavior of primary cilia and tricellular tight junction proteins during the differentiation of sensory hair cells. In undifferentiated cells (incubated at 33°C), many acetylated tubulin-positive primary cilia were observed, and each was accompanied with an x03B3;-tubulin-positive basal body. The primary cilia had a '9 + 0' architecture with nine outer microtubule doublets but lacking a central pair of microtubules. In differentiated cells (incubated at 39°C), acetylated tubulin-positive primary cilia as well as acetylated tubulin-positive cilia-like structures were partially observed on the cell surface. In differentiated cells, the number of primary cilia was markedly reduced compared with undifferentiated cells, and innumerable cilia-like structures with no ciliary pockets were partially observed on the cell surface. In undifferentiated cells, few tricellulin molecules and lipolysis-stimulated lipoprotein receptors (LSRs) were observed in the cytoplasm. In differentiated cells, many tricellulin molecules and LSRs were observed on the membranes and within the cytoplasm. Conditional immortalized mouse cochlear precursor hair cells may be useful to investigate the roles of primary cilia and tricellular tight junctions during cellular differentiation and degeneration such as apoptosis.