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. 2011 Mar 24;7(3):e1002032. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1002032

Figure 3. Advanced stereociliary degeneration on cochlear hair cells and peculiar stereociliary defects on inner hair cells.

Figure 3

(A–C) Stereociliary degeneration involving shortening and disappearance (see Figure 2) progresses for the outer hair cells (OHC) and the inner hair cells (IHC) of je/je mice. By P20 and P40, only sparse, disorganized collections of small stereociliary remnants remain (B,C). The middle region of the cochlea is shown. Panel A shows the corresponding region in P20 +/+ mice. Asterisk in C, position missing an outer hair cell. (D–G) Higher magnification reveals peculiar defects in je/je mice at P5 and P10, including bulbous tips for inner hair cell stereocilia in the tallest row (D) and branched, antler-like surface projections on the opposite (neural) face of the collection (E–G). F is a higher-magnification view of the box in E. Scale bars, 5 µm (A,C), 2 µm (B), 0.5 µm (D), 1 µm (E) or 0.2 µm (F,G).