Angulin-1 seals tricellular contacts independently of tricellulin and claudins.

Tricellular tight junctions (tTJs) are specialized tight junctions (TJs) that seal the intercellular space at tricellular contacts (TCs), where the vertices of three epithelial cells meet. Tricellulin and angulin family membrane proteins are known constituents of tTJs, but the molecular mechanism of tTJ formation remains elusive. Here, we investigated the roles of angulin-1 and tricellulin in tTJ formation in MDCK II cells by genome editing. Angulin-1-deficient cells lost the plasma membrane contact at TCs with impaired epithelial barrier function. The C terminus of angulin-1 bound to the TJ scaffold protein ZO-1, and disruption of their interaction influenced the localization of claudins at TCs, but not the tricellular sealing. Strikingly, the plasma membrane contact at TCs was formed in tricellulin- or claudin-deficient cells. These findings demonstrate that angulin-1 is responsible for the plasma membrane seal at TCs independently of tricellulin and claudins.

Deletion of Tricellulin Causes Progressive Hearing Loss Associated with Degeneration of Cochlear Hair Cells.

Tricellulin (also known as MARVELD2) is considered as a central component of tricellular tight junctions and is distributed among various epithelial tissues. Although mutations in the gene encoding tricellulin are known to cause deafness in humans (DFNB49) and mice, the influence of its systemic deletion in vivo remains unknown. When we generated tricellulin-knockout mice (Tric(-/-)), we found an early-onset rapidly progressive hearing loss associated with the degeneration of hair cells (HCs); however, their body size and overall appearance were normal. Tric(-/-) mice did not show any morphological change pertaining to other organs such as the gastrointestinal tract, liver, kidney, thyroid gland and heart. The endocochlear potential (EP) was normal in Tric(-/-) mice, suggesting that the tight junction barrier is maintained in the stria vascularis, where EP is generated. The degeneration of HCs, which occurred after the maturation of EP, was prevented in the culture medium with an ion concentration similar to that of the perilymph. These data demonstrate the specific requirement of tricellulin for maintaining ion homeostasis around cochlear HCs to ensure their survival. The Tric(-/-) mouse provides a new model for understanding the distinct roles of tricellulin in different epithelial systems as well as in the pathogenesis of DFNB49.

A "Tric" to tighten cell-cell junctions in the cochlea for hearing.

Tricellulin is a tricellular tight junction-associated membrane protein that controls movement of solutes at these specialized cell intersections. Mutations in the gene encoding tricellulin, TRIC, lead to nonsyndromic deafness. In this issue of the JCI, Nayak et al. created a gene-targeted knockin mouse in order to mimic the pathology of a human TRIC mutation. Deafness appears to be caused either by an increase in the K+ ion concentration around the basolateral surfaces of the outer hair cells or, alternatively, by an increase in small molecules such as ATP around the hair bundle, leading to cellular dysfunction and degeneration. Furthermore, the mice have features suggestive of syndromic hearing loss, which may have implications for care and treatment of patients harboring TRIC mutations.

Tricellulin deficiency affects tight junction architecture and cochlear hair cells.

The two compositionally distinct extracellular cochlear fluids, endolymph and perilymph, are separated by tight junctions that outline the scala media and reticular lamina. Mutations in TRIC (also known as MARVELD2), which encodes a tricellular tight junction protein known as tricellulin, lead to nonsyndromic hearing loss (DFNB49). We generated a knockin mouse that carries a mutation orthologous to the TRIC coding mutation linked to DFNB49 hearing loss in humans. Tricellulin was absent from the tricellular junctions in the inner ear epithelia of the mutant animals, which developed rapidly progressing hearing loss accompanied by loss of mechanosensory cochlear hair cells, while the endocochlear potential and paracellular permeability of a biotin-based tracer in the stria vascularis were unaltered. Freeze-fracture electron microscopy revealed disruption of the strands of intramembrane particles connecting bicellular and tricellular junctions in the inner ear epithelia of tricellulin-deficient mice. These ultrastructural changes may selectively affect the paracellular permeability of ions or small molecules, resulting in a toxic microenvironment for cochlear hair cells. Consistent with this hypothesis, hair cell loss was rescued in tricellulin-deficient mice when generation of normal endolymph was inhibited by a concomitant deletion of the transcription factor, Pou3f4. Finally, comprehensive phenotypic screening showed a broader pathological phenotype in the mutant mice, which highlights the non-redundant roles played by tricellulin.