Postnatal maturation of the dog stria vascularis— an immunohistochemical study

Abstract

The lateral wall of the dog cochlear duct was investigated by classical staining and immunohistochemistry for NaK/ATPase ␤2 isoform, cytokeratins (Cks), vimentin, nestin, and S100A6 during the postnatal cochlear maturation, i.e., from birth to postnatal day 110. The dog stria vascularis was immature at birth. Fine melanin granules were evident in the stria from the second week of life, and melanin concentration increased drastically beyond the first month. The marginal cells were NaK/ATPase-and Ck-positive; intermediate cells were either nestin-and S100A6-positive or vimentin-positive; the basal cells were vimentin-positive; the capillary endothelium showed vimentin and nestin labeling; the cell layer underlying the stria was nestin-positive. The fibrocytes of the spiral ligament and spiral prominence expressed nestin and vimentin. The epithelial cells overlaying the spiral prominence and the external sulcus were Ck-positive, and transiently nestin-and vimentin-positive. Double immunolabeling, for S100A6 and either nestin, vimentin, or NaK/ATPase, and for nestin and vimentin suggested the presence of two distinct intermediate cell types. The results enabled us to differentiate the cell types forming the lateral wall of the dog cochlear duct, and to follow their postnatal maturation. This study may form a basis for future investigations about spontaneous cochleosaccular degeneration in dogs. This species is an important companion animal, and a possible model for the study of comparable diseases in humans. Anat Rec Part A 270A: 82-92, 2003.

Inner ear histopathology in “nervous Pointer dogs” with severe hearing loss

“…3(a)) and the S100A6 and Na,K-ATPase expression showed a similar pattern to that observed in the normal stria vascularis of dogs as previously described (Coppens et al, 2003a). The lateral cell membrane and the numerous basal membrane infoldings of marginal cells, that deeply penetrate into the stria vascularis, strongly expressed Na,K-ATPase b2 isoform ( Fig.…”

“…For puppies from litter 3, bullae were opened and temporal bones were immediately fixed in 4% buffered paraformaldehyde in 0.1 M PBS for 48 h. This second schedule was chosen as it enhanced antigenic preservation for immunohistologic investigation (Coppens et al, 2000a(Coppens et al, , 2001b(Coppens et al, , 2003a.…”

Stem/progenitor cells in the postnatal inner ear of the GFP‐nestin transgenic mouse

“…In the dog's inner ear, nestin is found in the stria vascularis from birth to 110 days of age. Nestin was also observed during this time span within intermediate cells and capillaries, as well as fibrocytes in the spiral ligament and spiral prominence (Coppens et al, 2003). This data supports the idea that the mature inner ear has a quiescent set of precursors.…”

The morphological and functional development of the stria vascularis in miniature pigs

“…The development of stria vascularis in humans (Lavigne-Rebillard and Bagger-Sjöbäck 1992), mice (Kikuchi and Hilding 1966), rats (Sagara et al 1995), cats (Fernández and Hinojosa 1974), dogs (Coppens et al 2003), rabbits (Grisanti 1957) and guinea pigs (Jin et al 2007) has been examined. Pigs share similarities with humans, especially in terms of the size and shape of the middle and inner ear.…”