Molecular heterogeneity of the non-human primate cochlea

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Abstract
Unraveling the intricate composition and function of the cochlea is paramount to comprehending the mechanisms underlying sound perception and the pathogenesis of auditory disorders. The mammalian cochlea displays a highly organized structure, which contributes to the diversity and complexity of auditory processing. However, the cellular intricacies in non-human primates remain largely unexplored. In the present study, we employed high-throughput transcriptomic sequencing to profile over 36,701 nuclei across virtually all cochlear cell types in both juvenile and adult Macaca fascicularis at single-cell resolution. Our analysis unveiled remarkable heterogeneity both across and within cell types. Despite a largely conserved cellular composition of the cochlea between mouse and macaque species, glial cells exhibited substantial species-specific diversity, while hair cells and spiral ganglion neurons with specialized transcriptional programs were well-mapped onto their murine counterparts, underscoring the similarities that persist despite evolutionary divergence. Furthermore, we constructed a disease map associated with hearing loss, establishing this transcriptomic atlas of the macaque cochlea as an indispensable resource for future investigations in both human and non-human primates.

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