Fig. 1.

Fluorescence microscopic images of phalloidin-stained organ of Corti explants: (A) normal control; (B) gentamicin (35 μM) treatment; and (C) gentamicin (35 μM) treatment combined with the PKC inhibitor calphostin C (100 nM). In the normal control culture, one row of inner hair cells and three rows of outer hair cells are visible. In the gentamicin-treated explant, the outer hair cells are damaged, especially in the first row, whereas the inner hair cells are intact. The calphostin C- and gentamicin-treated culture exhibits the worse hair cell damage, with extensive loss from the second and third rows of outer hair cells.