Organization of the vertebrate inner ear is mainly dependent on localized signals from surrounding tissues. Previous studies demonstrated that sonic hedgehog (Shh) secreted from the floor plate and notochord is required for specification of ventral (auditory) and dorsal (vestibular) inner ear structures, yet it was not clear how this signaling activity is propagated. To elucidate the molecular ...

Objective: The developmental process of vertebrate inner ear is complex. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been reported to be involved in the development of inner ear. The current study was designed to explore the potential role of miR-18a in the development of inner ear. Methods: The expression of miR-18a and lysine demethylase 5B (Kd5mb) in inner ear tissues and house Ear Institute-Organ of Corti 1 (H...

In order to identify the inner ear autoantibodies, sera of 195 patients with sensorineural hearing loss and/or vertigo were reached with bovine inner ear antigen by western blotting method. Positive reaction was seen at several molecular weights, in which 33-35 kD, 42 kD and 68 kD were highly reactive. In moderate to severe hearing loss patients, positive reactions with 33-35 kD, 42 kD, 68 kD a...

Stem cell-derived inner ear sensory epithelia are a promising source of tissues for treating patients with hearing loss and dizziness. We recently demonstrated how to generate inner ear sensory epithelia, designated as inner ear organoids, from mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) in a self-organizing 3D culture. Here we improve the efficiency of this culture system by elucidating how Wnt signalin...

Inner ear decompression sickness has been strongly associated with the presence of right-to-left shunts. The implied involvement of intravascular bubbles shunted from venous to arterial circulations is inconsistent with the frequent absence of cerebral symptoms in these cases. If arterial bubbles reach the labyrinthine artery, they must also be distributing widely in the brain. This discrepancy...

Bone conduction (BC) hearing relies on sound vibration transmission in the skull bone. Several clinical findings indicate that in the human, the skull vibration of the inner ear dominates the response for BC sound. Two phenomena transform the vibrations of the skull surrounding the inner ear to an excitation of the basilar membrane, (1) inertia of the inner ear fluid and (2) compression and exp...