Talk:Hearing - Inner Ear Development

From Embryology

2010

From shared lineage to distinct functions: the development of the inner ear and epibranchial placodes.

Development. 2010 Jun;137(11):1777-85.

Ladher RK, O'Neill P, Begbie J.

RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology, Chuoku, Kobe 650-0047, Japan. raj-ladher@cdb.riken.go.jp Abstract The inner ear and the epibranchial ganglia constitute much of the sensory system in the caudal vertebrate head. The inner ear consists of mechanosensory hair cells, their neurons, and structures necessary for sound and balance sensation. The epibranchial ganglia are knots of neurons that innervate and relay sensory signals from several visceral organs and the taste buds. Their development was once thought to be independent, in line with their independent functions. However, recent studies indicate that both systems arise from a morphologically distinct common precursor domain: the posterior placodal area. This review summarises recent studies into the induction, morphogenesis and innervation of these systems and discusses lineage restriction and cell specification in the context of their common origin.


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20460364


A symphony of inner ear developmental control genes

BMC Genet. 2010 Jul 16;11:68.

Chatterjee S, Kraus P, Lufkin T.

Stem Cell and Developmental Biology, Genome Institute of Singapore, 60 Biopolis Street, 138672 Singapore. Abstract The inner ear is one of the most complex and detailed organs in the vertebrate body and provides us with the priceless ability to hear and perceive linear and angular acceleration (hence maintain balance). The development and morphogenesis of the inner ear from an ectodermal thickening into distinct auditory and vestibular components depends upon precise temporally and spatially coordinated gene expression patterns and well orchestrated signaling cascades within the otic vesicle and upon cellular movements and interactions with surrounding tissues. Gene loss of function analysis in mice has identified homeobox genes along with other transcription and secreted factors as crucial regulators of inner ear morphogenesis and development. While otic induction seems dependent upon fibroblast growth factors, morphogenesis of the otic vesicle into the distinct vestibular and auditory components appears to be clearly dependent upon the activities of a number of homeobox transcription factors. The Pax2 paired-homeobox gene is crucial for the specification of the ventral otic vesicle derived auditory structures and the Dlx5 and Dlx6 homeobox genes play a major role in specification of the dorsally derived vestibular structures. Some Micro RNAs have also been recently identified which play a crucial role in the inner ear formation.

PMID: 20637105 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20637105

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2156/11/68

New insight into the bony labyrinth: a microcomputed tomography study

Richard C, Laroche N, Malaval L, Dumollard JM, Martin Ch, Peoch M, Vico L, Prades JM. Auris Nasus Larynx. 2010 Apr;37(2):155-61. Epub 2009 Jul 4. PMID: 19577870 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19577870

"Our findings show different rates of growth among the semicircular canals, the vestibular aqueduct, the oval window, the round window and the cochlea. The final sizes of the cochlea and round window are achieved at 23 weeks of gestation, with heights of 5mm and 2mm, respectively. The oval window reaches adult size at 35 weeks, whereas the vestibular aqueduct will attain adult size after birth. An increasing degree of torsion of each semicircular canal is observed during fetal development. The superior semicircular canal achieves adult size at 24 weeks, before the posterior and the lateral canals (25 weeks). The time-course of ossification and mineralization observed in structures and confirmed by histology. CONCLUSIONS: During this developmental period poorly studied until now, our findings suggest that each part of the bony labyrinth follows distinct growth and ossification kinetics trajectories, some of these reaching their adult size only after birth. Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved."


2009

Development of form and function in the mammalian cochlea.

Kelly MC, Chen P. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2009 Aug;19(4):395-401. Epub 2009 Aug 15. Review. PMID: 19683914 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19683914


Collagen-based mechanical anisotropy of the tectorial membrane: implications for inter-row coupling of outer hair cell bundles

PLoS One. 2009;4(3):e4877. Epub 2009 Mar 18.

Gavara N, Chadwick RS.

Auditory Mechanics Section, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA. Abstract BACKGROUND: The tectorial membrane (TM) in the mammalian cochlea displays anisotropy, where mechanical or structural properties differ along varying directions. The anisotropy arises from the presence of collagen fibrils organized in fibers of approximately 1 microm diameter that run radially across the TM. Mechanical coupling between the TM and the sensory epithelia is required for normal hearing. However, the lack of a suitable technique to measure mechanical anisotropy at the microscale level has hindered understanding of the TM's precise role.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we report values of the three elastic moduli that characterize the anisotropic mechanical properties of the TM. Our novel technique combined Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), modeling, and optical tracking of microspheres to determine the elastic moduli. We found that the TM's large mechanical anisotropy results in a marked transmission of deformations along the direction that maximizes sensory cell excitation, whereas in the perpendicular direction the transmission is greatly reduced.

CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Computational results, based on our values of elastic moduli, suggest that the TM facilitates the directional cooperativity of sensory cells in the cochlea, and that mechanical properties of the TM are tuned to guarantee that the magnitude of sound-induced tip-link stretching remains similar along the length of the cochlea. Furthermore, we anticipate our assay to be a starting point for other studies of biological tissues that require directional functionality.

PMID: 19293929

Masculinization of the mammalian cochlea

McFadden D. Department of Psychology and Center for Perceptual Systems, University of Texas at Austin, Seay Building, 1 University Station, A8000, Austin, TX 78712-0187, USA. mcfadden@psy.utexas.edu Abstract Otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) differ between the sexes in humans, rhesus and marmoset monkeys, and sheep. OAEs also are different in a number of special populations of humans. Those basic findings are reviewed and discussed in the context of possible prenatal-androgen effects on the auditory system. A parsimonious explanation for several outcomes is that prenatal exposure to high levels of androgens can weaken the cochlear amplifiers and thereby weaken otoacoustic emissions (OAEs). Prenatal androgen exposure apparently also can alter auditory evoked potentials (AEPs). Some non-hormonal factors possibly capable of producing sex and group differences are discussed, and some speculations are offered about specific cochlear structures that might differ between the two sexes. PMID: 19272340

Specification of cell fate in the mammalian cochlea

Birth Defects Res C Embryo Today. 2009 Sep;87(3):212-21. Driver EC, Kelley MW.

Section on Developmental Neuroscience, National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA. DriverE@nidcd.nih.gov Abstract Mammalian auditory sensation is mediated by the organ of Corti, a specialized sensory epithelium found in the cochlea of the inner ear. Proper auditory function requires that the many different cell types found in the sensory epithelium be precisely ordered within an exquisitely patterned cellular mosaic. The development of this mosaic depends on a series of cell fate decisions that transform the initially nearly uniform cochlear epithelium into the complex structure of the mature organ of Corti. The prosensory domain, which contains the progenitors of both the mechanosensory hair cells and their associated supporting cells, first becomes distinct from both the neural and the nonsensory domains. Further cell fate decisions subdivide prosensory cells into populations of inner and outer hair cells, and several different types of supporting cells. A number of different signaling pathways and transcription factors are known to be necessary for these developmental processes; in this review, we will summarize these results with an emphasis on recent findings.

PMID: 19750520