Migration and fate of vestibular melanocytes during development of the human inner ear.

ola Kala shared this article with you from Inoreader Migration and fate of vestibular melanocytes during development of the human inner ear. Μέσω pubmed: semicircular canal Migration and fate of vestibular melanocytes during development of the human inner ear. Dev Neurobiol. 2020 Oct 19;: Authors: van Beelen ESA, van der Valk WH, de Groot JCMJ, Hensen EF, Locher H, van Benthem PPG Abstract Melanocytes are present in various parts of the inner ear, including the stria vascularis in the cochlea and the dark cell areas in the vestibular organs, where they contribute to endolymph homeostasis. Developmental studies describing the distribution of vestibular melanocytes are scarce, especially in humans. In this study, we investigated the distribution and maturation of the vestibular melanocytes in relation to the developing dark cell epithelium in inner ear specimens from week 5 to week 14 of development and in surgical specimens of the adult ampulla. Vestibular melanocytes were located around the utricle and the ampullae of the semicircular canals before week 7 and were first seen underneath the transitional zones and dark cell areas between week 8 and W10. At week 10, melanocytes made intimate contact with epithelial cells, interrupting the local basement membrane with their dendritic processes. At week 11, most melanocytes were positioned under the dark cell epithe lia. No melanocytes were seen around or in the saccule during all investigated developmental stages. The dark cell areas gradually matured and showed an adult immunohistochemical profile of the characteristic ion transporter protein Na+ /K+ -ATPase α1 by week 14. Furthermore, we investigated the expression of the migration-related proteins ECAD, PCAD, KIT and KITLG in melanocytes and dark cell epithelium. This is the first study to describe the spatiotemporal distribution of vestibular melanocytes during human development and thereby contributes to understanding normal vestibular function and pathophysiological mechanisms underlying vestibular disorders. PMID: 33075185 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.