Figure 7.

Stria vascularis pathology in adult Pit1 mutants. A, Stria vascularis prepared from P42 wild-type mice (a) and mutant mice (b, c) were analyzed by TEM. Double-headed arrow bars define the width of the stria vascularis. B, Lipofuscin granules are more abundant in the intermediate cells of Pit1^dw mutant mice, suggesting that the mutant cells are exhibiting signs of aging. The ultrastructure of wild-type (a) stria vascularis animals was compared with Pit1^dw mutants (b, c). Lipofuscin-like granules are more abundant in the mutants. Sections shown are from the basal turns of the cochlea, which were more prominently affected than the apex. Scale bars: 10 μm.