Malkemper E Pascal, Mason Matthew J, Kagerbauer Daniel, Nimpf Simon, Keays David A
Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna Biocenter (VBC), Campus Vienna Biocenter 1, Vienna 1030, Austria
University of Cambridge, Department of Physiology, Development & Neuroscience, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EG, UK.
Biol Open. 2018 Aug 2;7(8):bio034462. doi: 10.1242/bio.034462.
The vertebrate inner ear contains vestibular receptors with dense crystals of calcium carbonate, the otoconia. The production and maintenance of otoconia is a delicate process, the perturbation of which can lead to severe vestibular dysfunction in humans. The details of these processes are not well understood. Here, we report the discovery of a new otoconial mass in the lagena of adult pigeons that was present in more than 70% of birds. Based on histological, tomographic and elemental analyses, we conclude that the structure likely represents an ectopically-formed otoconial assembly. Given its frequent natural occurrence, we suggest that the pigeon lagena is a valuable model system for investigating misregulated otoconial formation.This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.
脊椎动物的内耳含有前庭感受器，其带有碳酸钙的致密晶体，即耳石。耳石的产生和维持是一个精细的过程，对其的扰动会导致人类严重的前庭功能障碍。这些过程的细节尚未得到充分了解。在这里，我们报告在成年鸽子的瓶状囊中发现了一种新的耳石团块，超过70%的鸟类中都存在这种情况。基于组织学、断层扫描和元素分析，我们得出结论，该结构可能代表异位形成的耳石集合体。鉴于其频繁自然出现，我们认为鸽子的瓶状囊是研究耳石形成失调的一个有价值的模型系统。本文配有对该论文第一作者的第一人称访谈。
