FIG. 8.

Glia-like cell differentiation of ESCs in RC of early post-injury cochleas. All sections were obtained from a cochlea 3 weeks after transplantation with wild type ESCs. Dual immunostaining for M2 (red) and GFAP (green) antibodies was used to identify ESCs differentiating towards a glial phenotype. M2 is a mouse-specific antigen and can be used to identify the transplanted mouse ESCs in gerbil inner ears. A A radial section through the spiral ganglion stained with H&E shows the profile of RC transplanted with ESCs (outlined by arrowheads). B–E Confocal images of a section adjacent to the one in A showing the morphological characteristics of transplanted glia-like cells within the RC. Note: there are no GFAP-positive cells outside the areas of the transplanted ESCs. In addition, there were also no GFAP-positive cells in the RC 3 weeks or longer after ouabain exposure (data not shown). Nuclei were counterstained with PI (red). F–H This section is about 10 μm apical to the one shown in A. Dual staining with M2 and GFAP antibodies indicated that some ESCs have differentiated into glia-like cells. Nuclei were counterstained with bis-benzimide (blue). Scale bar = 20 μm.