Figure 7.

Local gene delivery partially rescued stria vascularis and the endocochlear potential but not the endolymphatic pH. (A) Sections of the lateral wall and spiral ganglion region of the cochlea were obtained from inner ears of Slc26a4^+/+, Slc26a4^Δ/Δ, injected Slc26a4^Δ/Δ, Slc26a4^{tm1Dontuh/tm1Dontuh}, and injected Slc26a4^{tm1Dontuh/tm1Dontuh} mice at 5 weeks of age. (Aa-e) Gross morphology was evaluated in sections of the lateral wall stained with hematoxylin-eosin. (Af-j) KCNJ10 immunoreactivity (red) was evaluated in sections of the lateral wall stained with DAPI (blue). (Ak-o) Sections of the spiral ganglion region stained with DAPI (blue) served as a positive control for KCNJ10 immunoreactivity (red). SV, stria vascularis; sl, spiral ligament. Scale bars: 100 µm (Aa-e) and 50 µm (Af-o). The ears of pendrin-deficient mice shown in this figure were the contralateral ears of injected pendrin-deficient mice. (B-C) Thickness the stria vascularis and area of spiral ligament were measured in sections of the lateral wall. Data are drawn as symbols and represented by box-plots (25%, 50%, and 75%). Brackets mark comparisons among types of mice. Significance was evaluated by one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni t-test: n.s. no significant difference, * p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001. (D-E) Endocochlear potential and endolymphatic pH were measured in the inner ears of Slc26a4^+/+, Slc26a4^Δ/Δ, injected Slc26a4^Δ/Δ, Slc26a4^{tm1Dontuh/tm1Dontuh}, and injected Slc26a4^{tm1Dontuh/tm1Dontuh} mice at 5 weeks of age. Data are drawn as symbols and represented by box-plots (25%, 50%, and 75%) with whiskers (5% and 95%). Brackets mark comparisons among types of mice. Significance was evaluated by two-way ANOVA with Bonferroni t-test: n.s. no significant difference, * p<0.05.