Piezo2 mediates ultrasonic hearing via cochlear outer hair cells in mice

Ultrasonic hearing is exploited for hunting and navigation as in echolocation by microbats and bottleneck dolphins and for social communication like ultrasonic vocalization by mice and rats. However, the molecular basis for ultrasonic hearing is not known yet. Here we show that knockout of the mechanosensitive ion channel Piezo2 in cochlear outer hair cells disrupts the USH but not the low-frequency hearing in mice, as shown by audiometry, acoustically-associative learning behavior, and pup-retrieval behavior. Together, our study demonstrates that Piezo2 is molecularly essential for ultrasonic vocalization based communication in mouse social lives.