Fig. 1.

AAV8 vector (Penn Vector Core) transduces vestibular and cochlear hair cells with different efficiencies. (A) Diagram of the mouse inner ear and viral injection through the round window of the cochlea. The vestibular sensory epithelia [AC, ampullar crista(e) of the three semicircular canals; SM, saccular macula; UM, utricular macula] and cochlear sensory epithelium (OC, organ of Corti) are drawn in pink and in red, respectively. Details of an AC and the OC are presented on the left side and right side of this diagram, respectively, with the hair cells (IHCs, OHCs, and VHCs) drawn in red. The AAV8-Sans-IRES-GFP (Penn Vector Core) recombinant virus injected through the cochlear round window of a mouse on P2.5 transduces the vast majority of VHCs (B, Upper) and transduces cochlear IHCs and OHCs more efficiently in the apical region than in the basal region of the cochlea (C, Upper), as shown by the GFP labeling (green) on P8.5. All hair cells are stained red by an anti-myosin VI antibody. Higher magnification views of the AC (B, Lower) and the OC (C, Lower) from the cochlear apical region are shown. (Scale bars: Upper, 50 μm; Lower, 10 μm.)