Positive endocochlear potential: Mechanism of production by marginal cells of stria vascularis

1987 ◽  
Vol 29 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 117-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franklin F. Offner ◽  
Peter Dallos ◽  
Mary Ann Cheatham
2002 ◽  
Vol 282 (2) ◽  
pp. C403-C407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel C. Marcus ◽  
Tao Wu ◽  
Philine Wangemann ◽  
Paulo Kofuji

Stria vascularis of the cochlea generates the endocochlear potential and secretes K+. K+ is the main charge carrier and the endocochlear potential the main driving force for the sensory transduction that leads to hearing. Stria vascularis consists of two barriers, marginal cells that secrete potassium and basal cells that are coupled via gap junctions to intermediate cells. Mice lacking the KCNJ10 (Kir4.1) K+ channel in strial intermediate cells did not generate an endocochlear potential. Endolymph volume and K+ concentration ([K+]) were reduced. These studies establish that the KCNJ10 K+ channel provides the molecular mechanism for generation of the endocochlear potential in concert with other transport pathways that establish the [K+] difference across the channel. KCNJ10 is also a limiting pathway for K+ secretion.


2006 ◽  
Vol 291 (5) ◽  
pp. C1038-C1048 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshiaki Shibata ◽  
Hiroshi Hibino ◽  
Katsumi Doi ◽  
Toshihiro Suzuki ◽  
Yasuo Hisa ◽  
...  

Cochlear endolymph has a highly positive potential of approximately +80 mV known as the endocochlear potential (EP). The EP is essential for hearing and is maintained by K+ circulation from perilymph to endolymph through the cochlear lateral wall. Various K+ transport apparatuses such as the Na+,K+-ATPase, the Na+-K+-2Cl− cotransporter, and the K+ channels Kir4.1 and KCNQ1/KCNE1 are expressed in the lateral wall and are known to play indispensable roles in cochlear K+ circulation. The gastric type of the H+,K+-ATPase was also shown to be expressed in the cochlear lateral wall (Lecain E, Robert JC, Thomas A, and Tran Ba Huy P. Hear Res 149: 147–154, 2000), but its functional role has not been well studied. In this study we examined the precise localization of H+,K+-ATPase in the cochlea and its involvement in formation of EP. RT-PCR analysis showed that the cochlea expressed mRNAs of gastric α1-, but not colonic α2-, and β-subunits of H+,K+-ATPase. Immunolabeling of an antibody specific to the α1 subunit was detected in type II, IV, and V fibrocytes distributed in the spiral ligament of the lateral wall and in the spiral limbus. Strong immunoreactivity was also found in the stria vascularis. Immunoelectron microscopic examination exhibited that the H+,K+-ATPase was localized exclusively at the basolateral site of strial marginal cells. Application of Sch-28080, a specific inhibitor of gastric H+,K+-ATPase, to the spiral ligament as well as to the stria vascularis caused prominent reduction of EP. These results may imply that the H+,K+-ATPase in the cochlear lateral wall is crucial for K+ circulation and thus plays a critical role in generation of EP.


Development ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 107 (3) ◽  
pp. 453-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.P. Steel ◽  
C. Barkway

The stria vascularis of the mammalian cochlea is composed primarily of three types of cells. Marginal cells line the lumen of the cochlear duct and are of epithelial origin. Basal cells also form a continuous layer and they may be mesodermal or derived from the neural crest. Intermediate cells are melanocyte-like cells, presumably derived from the neural crest, and are scattered between the marginal and basal cell layers. The marginal cells form extensive interdigitations with the basal and intermediate cells in the normal adult stria. The stria also contains a rich supply of blood vessels. We investigated the role of melanocytes in the stria vascularis by studying its development in a mouse mutant, viable dominant spotting, which is known to have a primary neural crest defect leading to an absence of recognisable melanocytes in the skin. Melanocytes were not found in the stria of most of the mutants examined, and from about 6 days of age onwards a reduced amount of interdigitation amongst the cells of the stria was observed. These ultrastructural anomalies were associated with strial dysfunction. In the normal adult mammal, the stria produces an endocochlear potential (EP), a resting dc potential in the endolymph in the cochlear duct, which in mice is normally about +100 mV. In our control mice, EP rose to adult levels between 6 and 16 days after birth. In most of the mutants we studied, EP was close to zero at all ages from 6 to 20 days. Melanocyte-like cells appear to be vital for normal stria vascularis development and function. They may be necessary to facilitate the normal process of interdigitation between marginal and basal cell processes at a particular stage during development, and the lack of adequate interdigitation in the mutants may be the cause of their strial dysfunction. Alternatively, melanocytes may have some direct, essential role in the production of an EP by the stria. Melanocytes may be important both for normal strial development and for the production of the EP. We believe this is the clearest demonstration yet of a role for migratory melanocytes other than their role in pigmentation.


1992 ◽  
Vol 106 (3) ◽  
pp. 288-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilsa Schwartz ◽  
Sean O. McMenomey ◽  
Nancy J. Russell ◽  
Jane I. Morton ◽  
Dennis R. Trune

The stria vascularis in the C3H/ lpr autoimmune strain mouse was ultrastructurally examined in order to better understand the potential mechanisms by which systemic autoimmune disease affects the ear. The inner ears from C3H/ lpr mice before disease onset and C3H/HeJ controls showed no apparent pathology. However, the stria vascularis from older C3H/ lpr mice after systemic autoimmune disease onset showed considerable intercellular edema around the stria capillaries and thickening of the capillary basement membrane, compared to controls. These observations suggest that perivascular abnormalities, which are the hallmark of systemic autoimmune diseases, may underlie the stria dysfunction and hearing loss seen in autoimmune diseases in humans.


1997 ◽  
Vol 112 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 186-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sang Jeong Kim ◽  
Steven K. Juhn

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weiwei Guo ◽  
Haijin Yi ◽  
Zhang Yan ◽  
Lili Ren ◽  
Lei Chen ◽  
...  

The purpose of this study was to examine the morphological and functional development of the lateral wall of the scala media of the cochlea in miniature pigs; light and transmission electron microscopy and electrophysiology were used for this purpose. We showed that the lateral wall of the scala media of the cochlea appears at embryonic Day 21 (E21) when the cochlear duct begins to form. From E28 to E49, the lateral wall can be distinguished according to its position along the cochlea. At E56, cells in the lateral wall begin to differentiate into three different types. At E70, three cell types, marginal, intermediate and basal, can be clearly distinguished. At E91, the stria vascularis is adult-like and the organ of Corti is also morphologically mature. The average endocochlear potential measured from the second turn of the cochlea (at E98, postnatal Day 1 (P1), P13 and P30) was 71.4 ± 2.5 (n = 7), 78.8 ± 1.5 (n = 10), 77.3 ± 2.3 (n = 10) and 78.0 ± 2.1 mV (n = 10), respectively. Our results suggest that in miniature pigs the stria vascularis develops during the embryonic period, concurrent with maturation of the organ of Corti. The magnitude of the endocochlear potential reached its mature level when the stria vascularis was morphologically adult-like at E98. These findings provide a morphological and functional basis for future animal studies using the miniature pig model concerning the pathogenesis of various inner-ear diseases.


1997 ◽  
Vol 106 (5) ◽  
pp. 394-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kensuke Watanabe ◽  
Yasuo Tanaka

Escherichia coli-derived endotoxin was inoculated in the middle ear of guinea pigs 24 hours after being injected intraperitoneally. Twenty-four hours after the middle ear inoculation, horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was injected via the femoral vein and the permeability of HRP through the capillaries of the stria vascularis and the destination of the leaked HRP were examined. A large amount of HRP leaked out of the capillary through the opened endothelial cell junctions and penetrated the enlarged intercellular spaces. Leaked HRP entered the pinocytotic vesicles of the intermediate cells. Even slightly degenerated intermediate cells retained this function. The HRP penetrated the spongelike structure of the marginal cells leading to the intercellular space. This structure was not observed without endotoxin. The HRP could not pass to the cochlear duct through the tight junctions between marginal cells. Blood sludging was observed in the strial capillaries. It appeared more frequently in the upper three turns than in the basal turn. The HRP leakage out of the capillaries was observed not only in the upper three turns but also in the basal turn.


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