<scp>EVL</scp> is not essential for cuticular plate and stereocilia development in mouse auditory hair cells

In inner ear hair cells, the stereocilia are inserted into a dense F-actin-enriched meshwork named the cuticular plate, which provides support to the stereocilia. Enah/Vasp-like (EVL) was shown to localize at the cuticular plate, and evl knockdown leads to disrupted cuticular plate and disorganized stereocilia in Xenopus hair cells. In the present work, we show that Evl transcripts are specifically expressed in mouse hair cells, and EVL is localized to the cuticular plate. However, the cuticular plate and stereocilia are unaffected by Evl knockout, and auditory function is largely normal in Evl knockout mice. In conclusion, our present data suggest that EVL is not essential for cuticular plate and stereocilia development in mouse auditory hair cells.