Role of a novel mouse mutant of the Galnt2 tm 1 Lat/ tm 1 Lat gene in otitis media

Weijun Ma; Heng Li; Juan Hu; Ying Gao; Hui Lv; Xiaotong Zhang; Qing Zhang; Min Xu; Ying Cheng

doi:10.3389/fneur.2022.1054704

Role of a novel mouse mutant of the Galnt2 ^{tm 1 Lat/ tm 1 Lat} gene in otitis media

Front Neurol. 2023 Feb 16:13:1054704. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2022.1054704. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Weijun Ma¹, Heng Li², Juan Hu¹, Ying Gao¹, Hui Lv¹, Xiaotong Zhang¹, Qing Zhang³, Min Xu¹, Ying Cheng¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
² Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Shiquan County Hospital, Ankang, Shaanxi, China.
³ Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.

Abstract

Genetic susceptibility is one of the most important causes of otitis media (OM). Mutant Galnt2 homozygote (Galnt2 ^{tm1Lat/tm1Lat}) mimics human otitis media in comparable pathology and causes hearing loss. Otitis media is characterized by effusion and dysregulated mucosa proliferation and capillary expansion in the middle ear cavity, which is associated with hearing loss. The mucociliary dysfunction could be seen in the middle ear cavity (MEC) in a patient harboring the disease that develops in severity with age by a scanning electron microscope. Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1), Muc5ac, and Muc5b upregulate the expression in the middle ear, which correlates with inflammation, craniofacial development, and mucin secretion. The mouse model with a mutation in the Galnt2 (Galnt2 ^{tm1Lat/tm1Lat}) was explored in this study as a novel model of human otitis media.

Keywords: genetic susceptibility; hearing loss; mouse model; mutant Galnt2 homozygote; otitis media.

Grants and funding

This study was funded by the National Key R&D Program of Shaanxi Province (No. 2021SF-262) and The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University Free Exploration Project (No. YJ(ZYTS)2019063).