Oesterle E C, Tsue T T, Reh T A, Rubel E W
Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center, Seattle, Washington.
Hear Res. 1993 Oct;70(1):85-108. doi: 10.1016/0378-5955(93)90054-5.
The sensory epithelium of the avian inner ear retains into adulthood progenitor cells for inner-ear hair cells and other cell types in the epithelium. Hair cells are produced normally on an ongoing basis in the vestibular sensory epithelium, and hair-cell production is increased after insult in both auditory and vestibular sensory epithelia. The details of postnatal hair-cell production are not understood. In particular, molecular factors involved in the initiation and regulation of hair-cell genesis and differentiation are not known. Studies of this phenomena have been hampered by the lack of cell culture models. An organ culture system was developed which encourages generation and differentiation of hair cells in mature inner-ear sensory epithelia. Continuous labeling with tritiated thymidine showed genesis of both supporting cells and hair cells in normal vestibular epithelia grown in culture, and an increase in hair-cell and supporting-cell proliferation in damaged sensory epithelia grown in culture as compared to undamaged controls. This demonstrates, in vitro, both the division and differentiation of hair-cell progenitor cells in normal vestibular epithelia, and the maintenance of the hair-cell regeneration process in damaged inner-ear epithelia. This culture system should be useful for studies of hair-cell genesis and differentiation as well as studies of hair-cell and supporting-cell functioning in general.
鸟类内耳的感觉上皮在成年后仍保留着内耳毛细胞和上皮中其他细胞类型的祖细胞。在前庭感觉上皮中，毛细胞通常持续正常产生，并且在听觉和前庭感觉上皮受到损伤后，毛细胞的产生会增加。出生后毛细胞产生的细节尚不清楚。特别是，参与毛细胞发生和分化起始及调控的分子因素还不明确。由于缺乏细胞培养模型，对这一现象的研究受到了阻碍。开发了一种器官培养系统，该系统可促进成熟内耳感觉上皮中毛细胞的生成和分化。用氚标记的胸腺嘧啶核苷连续标记显示，培养的正常前庭上皮中支持细胞和毛细胞均有发生，与未受损对照相比，培养的受损感觉上皮中毛细胞和支持细胞的增殖增加。这在体外证明了正常前庭上皮中毛细胞祖细胞的分裂和分化，以及受损内耳上皮中毛细胞再生过程的维持。这种培养系统对于毛细胞发生和分化的研究以及一般毛细胞和支持细胞功能的研究应该是有用的。
