A corticosteroid-responsive transcription factor, promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger protein, mediates protection of the cochlea from acoustic trauma.

Animals can be induced to resist cochlear damage associated with acoustic trauma by exposure to a variety of "conditioning" stimuli, including restraint stress, moderate level sound, heat stress, hypoxia, and corticosteroids. Here we identify in mice a corticosteroid-responsive transcription factor, PLZF (promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger protein), which mediates conditioned protection of the cochlea from acoustic trauma. PLZF mRNA levels in the cochlea are increased following conditioning stimuli, including restraint stress, dexamethasone administration, and moderate-to-high level acoustic stimulation. Heterozygous mutant (luxoid.Zbtb16(LU)/J) mice deficient in PLZF have hearing and responses to acoustic trauma similar to their wild type littermates but are unable to generate conditioning-induced protection from acoustic trauma. PLZF immunoreactivity is present in the spiral ganglion, lateral wall of the cochlea, and organ of Corti, all targets for acoustic trauma. PLZF is also present in the brain and PLZF mRNA in brain is elevated following conditioning stimuli. The identification of a transcription factor that mediates conditioned protection from trauma provides a tool for understanding the protective action of corticosteroids, which are widely used in treating acute hearing loss, and has relevance to understanding the role of corticosteroids in trauma protection.