A tectorin-based matrix and planar cell polarity genes are required for normal collagen-fibril orientation in the developing tectorial membrane.

ABSTRACT: The tectorial membrane is an extracellular structure of the cochlea. It develops on the surface of the auditory epithelium and contains collagen fibrils embedded in a tectorin-based matrix. The collagen fibrils are oriented radially with an apically directed slant - a feature considered crucial for hearing. To determine how this pattern is generated, collagen-fibril formation was examined in mice lacking a tectorin-based matrix, epithelial cilia or the planar cell polarity genes Vangl2 and Ptk7 In wild-type mice, collagen-fibril bundles appear within a tectorin-based matrix at E15.5 and, as fibril number rapidly increases, become co-aligned and correctly oriented. Epithelial width measurements and data from Kif3a^cKO mice suggest, respectively, that radial st

SUBMITTER: Goodyear RJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5702074 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature