David N. Furness

Spiral ligament fibrocytes function in cochlear homeostasis, maintaining the endocochlear potential by participating in potassium recycling, and fibrocyte degeneration contributes to hearing loss. Their superficial location makes them amenable to replacement by cellular transplantation. Fibrocyte cultures offer one source of transplantable cells, but determining what fibrocyte types they contain and what phenotype transplanted cells may adopt is problematic. Here, we use immunogold electron microscopy to assess the relative expression of markers in native fibrocytes of the CD/1 mouse spiral ligament. Caldesmon and aquaporin 1 are expressed more in type III fibrocytes than any other type. S-100 is strongly expressed in types I, II, and V fibrocytes, and α1Na,K-ATPase is expressed strongly only in types II and V. By combining caldesmon or aquaporin 1 with S-100 and α1Na,K-ATPase, a ratiometric analysis of immunogold density distinguishes all except type II and type V fibrocytes. Other putative markers (creatine kinase BB and connective tissue growth factor) did not provide additional useful analytical attributes. By labeling serial sections or by double or triple labeling with combinations of three antibodies, this technique could be used to distinguish all except type II and type V fibrocytes in culture or after cellular transplantation into the lateral wall.

Presbycusis (age-related hearing loss) can result from various cochlear pathologies. We have studied the time course of degeneration in a mouse that shows accelerated presbycusis, the CD/1 mouse, as a possible model to investigate stem-cell strategies to prevent or ameliorate presbycusic changes. CD/1 mice from 0 to 72 weeks old were examined by light and electron microscopy. Early pathological changes were detected in basal turn spiral ligament fibrocytes and spiral ganglion, but the latter was variable as both satellite cells and neurons were normal in some cochleae. Light microscopic counts in the spiral ligament of 20-week-old mice revealed that of the five main types (types I–V), only type V fibrocytes showed no reduction in numbers compared with 3-week-old animals, and type IV showed the greatest losses. However, all types of fibrocyte showed subtle damage when examined using electron microscopy, in the form of swollen mitochondria, as early as 2 weeks. The extent of mitochondrial damage showed a degree of correspondence with the light microscopic pattern of fibrocyte loss in that types III and IV fibrocytes had the most abnormal mitochondria and type V the least, especially at early stages. By 10–15 weeks, ultrastructural features of fibrocyte damage were similar to longer term changes reported in gerbils. Stria vascularis, spiral ganglion and hair cells showed few consistent early signs of damage but became increasingly affected, lagging behind the fibrocyte damage. Our data suggest that fibrocyte pathology may precede other presbycusic changes; breakdown of homeostatic mechanisms to which they contribute may cause the subsequent degeneration of the hair cells. Overall, there were many similarities to presbycusic changes in other rodents and humans. Therefore, the features of accelerated aging in this mouse make it a suitable model for rapidly assessing possible strategies to prevent or ameliorate presbycusic changes.

The sensory bundle of vertebrate cochlear hair cells consists of actin-containing stereocilia that are thought to bend at their ankle during mechanical stimulation. Stereocilia have dense rootlets that extend through the ankle region to anchor them into the cuticular plate. Because this region may be important in bundle stiffness and durability during prolonged stimulation at high frequencies, we investigated the structure and dimensions of rootlets relative to the stereocilia in apical (low-frequency) and basal (high-frequency) regions of rodent cochleae using light and electron microscopy. Their composition was investigated using postembedding immunogold labeling of tropomyosin, spectrin, β-actin, γ-actin, espin, and prestin. The rootlets have a thick central core that widens at the ankle, and are embedded in a filamentous meshwork in the cuticular plate. Within a particular frequency region, rootlet length correlates with stereociliary height but between regions it changes disproportionately; apical stereocilia are, thus, approximately twice the height of basal stereocilia in equivalent rows, but rootlet lengths increase much less. Some rootlets contact the tight junctions that underlie the ends of the bundle. Rootlets contain spectrin, tropomyosin, and β- and γ-actin, but espin was not detected; spectrin is also evident near the apical and junctional membranes, whereas prestin is confined to the basolateral membrane below the junctions. These data suggest that rootlets strengthen the ankle region to provide durability and may contact with the lateral wall either to give additional anchoring of the stereocilia or to provide a route for interactions between the bundle and the lateral wall.