FIG. 5.

When transporter-null mice were maintained on a low-thiamine diet until ABR thresholds began to shift, their cochleas showed selective loss of inner hair cells. (A, C) Place-matched images from the upper basal turn of a transporter-null and a wild-type mouse, respectively, each of which was placed on a low-thiamine diet for 26 days, beginning at 45 days of age. (B, D) contain higher-power views of the inner hair cell areas from (A) and (C), respectively: black arrows in (D) show the nucleus and stereocilia bundle of the normal inner hair cell; white arrows point to the nuclei of the supporting cells in the inner hair cell area that remain in both ears.