Emx2 mediates the directional selectivity of neuromasts by regulating hair bundle orientation in hair cells, and by selecting afferent neuronal targets.
Opposing gradients of activin A and follistatin within the spiral shaped mammalian cochlea instruct the graded pattern of mechano-sensory hair cell formation.
Hair follicle epithelium and skin vasculature remodeling are coordinated during quiescence, and their cross-talking is associated with the timing of stem cell activation.
Other than its function in mechanotransduction, TMC1 is indispensable for action potential firing of auditory hair cells by mediating a leak conductance that alters tonotopically along the cochlea coil.
Cell fate-mapping with genetically-modified mouse models and cellular markers demonstrates that sensory hair cells in the vestibular portion of the inner ear are a dynamic population in adult mice that undergo cell death and replacement under normal conditions.
The mammalian utricle can better regenerate hair cells compared to the cochlea because it maintains hair cell gene loci in a more transcriptionally accessible state.
The remarkable lifelong stability of mechanotransducing stereocilia of the inner ear hair cells depends on the activity of the transduction ion channels located at the tips of these mechanosensory projections.
