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Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology

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01-02-2017 | Research Article

Tyrosine Hydroxylase Expression in Type II Cochlear Afferents in Mice

Authors: Pankhuri Vyas, Jingjing Sherry Wu, Amanda Zimmerman, Paul Fuchs, Elisabeth Glowatzki

Published in: Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology | Issue 1/2017

Abstract

Acoustic information propagates from the ear to the brain via spiral ganglion neurons that innervate hair cells in the cochlea. These afferents include unmyelinated type II fibers that constitute 5 % of the total, the majority being myelinated type I neurons. Lack of specific genetic markers of type II afferents in the cochlea has been a roadblock in studying their functional role. Unexpectedly, type II afferents were visualized by reporter proteins induced by tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-driven Cre recombinase. The present study was designed to determine whether TH-driven Cre recombinase (TH-2A-CreER) provides a selective and reliable tool for identification and genetic manipulation of type II rather than type I cochlear afferents. The “TH-2A-CreER neurons” radiated from the spiral lamina, crossed the tunnel of Corti, turned towards the base of the cochlea, and traveled beneath the rows of outer hair cells. Neither the processes nor the somata of TH-2A-CreER neurons were labeled by antibodies that specifically labeled type I afferents and medial efferents. TH-2A-CreER-positive processes partially co-labeled with antibodies to peripherin, a known marker of type II afferents. Individual TH-2A-CreER neurons gave off short branches contacting 7–25 outer hair cells (OHCs). Only a fraction of TH-2A-CreER boutons were associated with CtBP2-immunopositive ribbons. These results show that TH-2A-CreER provides a selective marker for type II versus type I afferents and can be used to describe the morphology and arborization pattern of type II cochlear afferents in the mouse cochlea.

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Title: Tyrosine Hydroxylase Expression in Type II Cochlear Afferents in Mice
Authors: Pankhuri Vyas
Jingjing Sherry Wu
Amanda Zimmerman
Paul Fuchs
Elisabeth Glowatzki
Publication date: 01-02-2017
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology / Issue 1/2017
Print ISSN: 1525-3961
Electronic ISSN: 1438-7573
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10162-016-0591-7

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Tyrosine Hydroxylase Expression in Type II Cochlear Afferents in Mice

Abstract

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Abstract

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