Hair cell regeneration, reinnervation, and restoration of hearing thresholds in the avian hearing organ.

ABSTRACT: Hearing starts, at the cellular level, with mechanoelectrical transduction by sensory hair cells. Sound information is then transmitted via afferent synaptic connections with auditory neurons. Frequency information is encoded by the location of hair cells along the cochlear duct. Loss of hair cells, synapses, or auditory neurons leads to permanent hearing loss in mammals. Birds, in contrast, regenerate auditory hair cells and functionally recover from hearing loss. Here, we characterized regeneration and reinnervation in sisomicin-deafened chickens and found that afferent neurons contact regenerated hair cells at the tips of basal projections. In contrast to development, synaptic specializations are established at these locations distant from the hair cells' bodies. The protrusions then co

SUBMITTER: Sato MP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11068303 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature