Fig. 1.

Slc4a10 expression in spiral ligament fibrocytes starts shortly before hearing onset in mice. a Section of the lower part of the cochlear duct of an adult (16-week-old) wild-type mouse stained for Slc4a10 (magenta) and Pendrin (green). Slc4a10 is expressed in the spiral ligament. It is not expressed in the stria vascularis or the organ of Corti. b Magnification from (a). Slc4a10 expression is restricted to type I, II, IV, and V fibrocytes and does not include root cells, outer sulcus cells, or spiral prominence epithelial cells, which express Pendrin. c The specificity of the Slc4a10 antibody was confirmed by the absence of labeling in corresponding Slc4a10 KO sections. d–i Expression of Slc4a10 in the developing inner ear. At embryonal day 16.5 (E16.5) (d) and postnatal day 7 (P7) (e), Slc4a10 is not yet expressed in the inner ear. At P9 (f), the Slc410 signal is weak and restricted to type II and V fibrocytes. At P12 (g) and P14 (h), Slc4a10 is clearly expressed in spiral ligament fibrocyte types II and V. At P21 (i), the labeling also includes type I and IV fibrocytes. OC, Organ of Corti; os, outer sulcus epithelial cells; rc, root cells; RM, Reissner‘s membrane; SL, spiral limbus; SM, scala media; sp, spiral prominence epithelial cells; ST, scala tympani; StV, stria vascularis; SV, scala vestibuli. The fibrocyte subtypes I–V are indicated. Nuclei are visualized by DAPI staining (blue). Scale bars, a, c, and e–i 120 μm; b 30 μm; d 100 μm