FIGURE 7.

Gentamicin causes a progressive loss of MtMP in mouse cochlear culture HCs after ≥16 min incubation time. (A–J) Confocal images show Rhodamine-123 fluorescence in the three rows of outer HCs (OHCs) at differing time points following exposure to 5 mM gentamicin. Loss of fluorescence begins at 16 min post-exposure, with complete loss evident in one OHC (^∗). The decrease in fluorescence indicates a collapse of the MtMP. By 26 min post-exposure the majority of OHCs in the region of interest had reduced Rhodamine-123 fluorescence indicating a widespread loss of MtMP. The experiment was performed at room temperature (20–22°C). Scale bar is 25 μm.