Fig. 2

Hair cell specific deletion of TMEM30A caused hearing loss. a The schematic graph showed the generation of hair cell specific Tmem30a-knockout mice. Exon 3 was flanked by two loxP sites. Briefly, we generated hair cell specific deletion mice using Gfi1/Atoh1-Cre. Tmem30a expression was diminished to 10% in mutant cochlea, as revealed by real-time PCR (b). Heterozygous (Het) cochleae showed mRNA levels comparative with those in WT cochleae. c No detectable hearing function was shown in Gfi-Cre Tmem30a^Loxp/Loxp adult mouse, while heterozygous mice had similar ABR threshold with WT counterparts. d ABR results at 2 weeks old. Both Gfi1-Cre Tmem30a^Loxp/Loxp, and Atoh1-Cre Tmem30a^Loxp/Loxp mice had no detectable hearing responses. e Auditory function improved from P14 to P40 in WT and heterozygous mice; in contrast, no detectable auditory function was shown in the KO mice. Error bars indicate the standard error of the mean. In b N = 3. In c–e, N = 6 or 7