Direct reprogramming of somatic cells to an inner ear sensory hair cell-like state provides an experimental platform to identify causes and treatments for hair cell loss and hearing deficits.
Immunolabelling and morphological assessment, complemented by complete transcriptomic analysis, demonstrates that supporting cells can be induced to convert towards a hair cell-like phenotype in human vestibular sensory epithelia.
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.
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.
Cuticulosomes are organelles found in the hair cells of birds that are composed of ferritin nanoparticles, form rapidly after hatching by the fusion of vesicular structures, and may play an indirect role in magnetic sensation.
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.
Mammalian primary sensory inner hair cells play an active role in auditory information processing, such that they show a preference for either timing or intensity coding.
Supporting cells in the cochlea change their shape in response to purinergic receptor activation, which influences hair cell excitability by altering potassium redistribution in the extracellular space.
