Fig. 1.

Histology of the stria vascularis and effects of aging. (A) Light microscopic image showing a cross-section through the OC illustrating the lateral wall that includes the SV and the spiral ligament. The SV contains three cell layers: the basal, the intermediate, and the marginal cells. The marginal cells face the endolymph. (B) Sections stained for Nissl (cresyl-violet) illustrate the SV from wild-type and a model for aging, the mitochondrial DNA mutator mice at 2 and 10 months of age. All sections are obtained from the middle turn of the cochlea. The SV from the 10-month-old mitochondrial DNA mutator mice demonstrate a disorganized (*) and a thinning (**) of the SV (Niu et al., 2007).