Loss of glycine receptors containing the α3 subunit compromises auditory nerve activity, but not outer hair cell function.

Inhibitory glycine receptors containing the α3 subunit (GlyRα3) regulate sensory information processing in the CNS and retina. In previous work, we demonstrated the presence of postsynaptic GlyRα3 immunoreactivity at efferent synapses of the medial and lateral olivocochlear bundle in the organ of Corti; however, the role of these α3-GlyRs in auditory signalling has remained elusive. The present study analyzes distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) and auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) of knockout mice with a targeted inactivation of the Glra3 gene (Glra3−/−) and their wildtype littermates (Glra3+/+) before and seven days after acoustic trauma (AT; 4–16 kHz, 120 dB SPL, 1 h).