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Restoring Balance

Importance of the junctions between supporting cells in the inner ear for hearing and balance revealed

24 May 2020

Restoring Balance

Hearing and balance depend on hair cells with microscopic sensory hairs, bending in response to vibrations caused by sound or movement. Unlike other vertebrates, whose inner ear supporting cells (SCs) can produce new hair cells if needed, mammals lose this ability during development, so any damage leads to permanent hearing loss and balance disorders. The connections between our SCs also change at the same time with an increase in proteins involved in cell adhesion, at the junctions linking cells together. In recent experiments on 8-day-old mouse utricles (a balance organ in the inner ear, pictured, with SCs in yellow), treatment with growth factors reversed these changes, before ultimately encouraging SCs to multiply. Suggesting that the unique changes to cell junctions in mammalian SCs contribute to their inability to renew hair cells, these results indicate promising avenues for future research on hearing and balance defects.

Written by Emmanuelle Briolat

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BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

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