Figure 6. Hair cell degeneration pattern in Minar2^tm1b mutant mice at 14 weeks old.

Confocal maximum intensity projection images of the whole-mount organ of Corti of 14-week old mice. Hair cells were examined using anti-Myo7a antibody (green) and phalloidin (magenta). Nuclei are shown in blue (DAPI). Scale bar= 200 µm in A and 10µm in B. The images are representative examples of Minar2^+/+ (A, B, C, D) and Minar2^tm1b/tm1b (E, F, G, H) mice. (A, E) Overview of the apical half of the cochlea. (B, C, D) High magnification images corresponding to the 12 kHz, 24 kHz and 36 kHz best-frequency regions respectively. (F, G, H) High magnification images of three different patterns of hair cell loss observed in Minar2^tm1b mutant mice. All 5 homozygotes that were studied at 14 weeks old showed similar patches of loss of the organ of Corti at varying locations along the length of the cochlear duct interspersed with regions that showed only scattered hair cell loss. Minar2^+/+ (n = 4), Minar2^+/tm1b (n = 5) and Minar2^tm1b/tm1b (n = 5).