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. 2020 Oct 12;11:5137. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-18894-8

Fig. 3. A mechanical model based on global shear and local repulsion explains patterning of the OHCs.

Fig. 3

a Schematic of the initial state of the model and the desired final state. The initial state for the simulation begins with the IHCs and pillar cells already pre-formed. A lateral inhibition mechanism is used to define a disordered pattern of HCs and SCs at a certain distance from the pillar cells. b Schematic of the three-dimensional structure of the organ of Corti showing the forces assumed in the model (see also image in Fig. S3c–e). HCs nuclei apply steric repulsion at the HC nuclei plane (yellow arrows) while lateral shear motion driven by movement of Hensen cells leads to shear and compression on HCs (red arrows). c Schematic of the key assumptions for the first stage of the simulation (compaction stage). HCs are subjected to global shear forces (red arrows) and local repulsion forces (yellow arrows). d A filmstrip of the first stage in the simulation. Global shear and local repulsion forces lead to the formation of a compact state of HCs. Movie shown in Supplementary Video 8. e Schematic of the key assumption for the second stage (refinement stage). The tension in SC:SC junctions is increased relative to that of HC:SC junctions. f A filmstrip of the second stage in the simulation. This stage begins at the end of the compaction stage. Movie shown in Supplementary Video 9. g, h Simulations capture the dynamics of the order parameters observed experimentally. Similar to the analysis in Fig. 1e–f, the number of SC neighbors decreases (g) and the HC organization exhibits higher hexagonal order (h). i Simulations capture the change in HCs and SCs areas. Gray dots correspond to individual data points of the ratio of HC to SC areas at the end of stage 1 and stage 2, obtained from n = 50 simulations. Black dots represent average. Statistical analysis was done using two-sided two-sample t-test. Error bars in g–i indicate S.E.M. Full description of the simulations is provided in the methods. Parameters used are provided in Supplementary Table 1.