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British Medical Bulletin 63:5-24 (2002)
© 2002 The British Council

The molecular architecture of the inner ear

Andrew Forge and Tony Wright

UCL Centre for Auditory Research and Institute of Laryngology & Otology, University College London, London, UK


   Abstract
Top
 Abstract
Introduction
 Hair cells
 Supporting cells
 The organ of Corti
 Ion transporting epithelia
 Concluding remarks
 References
 
The inner ear is structurally complex. A molecular description of its architecture is now emerging from the use of contemporary methods of cell and molecular biology, and from studies of ontogenetic development. With the application of clinical and molecular genetics, it has now become possible to identify genes associated with inherited, non-syndromic deafness and balance dysfunction in humans and in mice. This work is providing new insights into how the tissues of the inner ear are built to perform their tasks, and into the pathogenesis of a range of inner ear disorders.


   Introduction
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
Hair cells
 Supporting cells
 The organ of Corti
 Ion transporting epithelia
 Concluding remarks
 References
 
The inner ear provides sensory information relating to hearing (from the cochlea) and balance (from the vestibular system). It comprises a series of interconnected fluid-filled membranous canals (the membranous labyrinth) inside bony channels at the base of the skull (Fig. 1). In humans and higher primates, the bony labyrinthine channels are in the temporal bone, the hardest bone in the body, which is fused with the skull. In other mammals, the inner ear is contained within an auditory bulla that can be isolated quite easily. The fluid inside the lumen of the membranous channels is endolymph. This has an unusual composition for an extracellular fluid. It has a high potassium ion (K+) concentration (~140 mM) but is low in sodium ions (Na+)1. In the cochlea, but not the vestibular system, endolymph also has a high positive electrical potential, the endocochlear potential (EP), of around +80 mV. The fluid that fills the bony channels is perilymph. Perilymph is close to normal extracellular fluid and has a high Na+/low K+ composition. The border between the two fluids lies at the level of the junctions between the epithelial cells that surround the endolymphatic spaces. Maintenance of this permeability barrier is essential for function of the inner ear.



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  		Fig. 1 Diagram of the inner ear in cross-section of the human temporal bone.

 
Three types of epithelium surround the endolymphatic compartment: sensory epithelia, ion transporting epithelia, and relatively unspecialised epithelia. The sensory epithelium of the cochlea is the organ of Corti, a narrow spiral of cells. The vestibular system of mammals contains five sensory epithelial sheets: the maculae of the utricle and saccule, and the three cristae, one in each of the semi-circular canals. Sensory epithelia are composed of sensory hair cells and accessory supporting cells (Fig. 2A). Each hair cell is surrounded and separated from its neighbours by supporting cells so that no two hair cells contact each other. The sensory epithelium is covered by an acellular extracellular matrix structure: the tectorial membrane in the cochlea, the otolithic membranes of macular organs, and the cupulae of the cristae. The hair cells derive their name from the organised bundle of rigid projections at their apical surface (Fig. 2B,C). Deflection of the hair bundle caused by either sound waves or changes in head position modulates the flow of K+ ions from endolymph through the hair cells, altering the hair cell's resting electrical potentials and exciting hair cell activity. Hair cells are thus mechanotranducers converting a mechanical stimulus (movement) into an electrical signal. The ion transporting epithelia, the stria vascularis of the cochlea (Fig. 3A,D) and the dark cell regions of the vestibular system, are involved in active (energy consuming) ion transport necessary to maintain the unusual endolymph composition. The less specialised epithelia, Reissner's membrane in the cochlea (Fig. 3A) and the epithelium of the roof of the saccule, utricle, ampullae of the semi-circular canals and the semi-circular canals, form permeability barriers separating the fluid spaces. Rupture of these membranes would be expected to result in fluid mixing and physiological dysfunction. It is thought this event may occur to Reissner's membrane in Menière's syndrome. These simple epithelia will not be discussed further. What follows is a selective account of some details of sensory epithelia generally and then of the organ of Corti and stria vascularis of the mammalian cochlea more specifically.



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  		Fig. 2 General features of hair cell containing sensory epithelia. (A) Diagram to illustrate the general organisation of a mechanotransducing epithelium of the inner ear (in this case a mammalian macula). hc, hair cell; sc, supporting cell; bm, basement membrane; om, overlying extracellular matrix (otoconial membrane in the maculae). (B) The apical surface of a sensory epithelium (mammalian utricular macula) as viewed by scanning electron microscopy, showing organised hair bundles on the hair cells. Each hair cell is separated from its neighbour by intervening supporting cells the surfaces of which are covered with microvilli. (C) The apical structures of a hair cell in the mammalian utricle. The thin section in a composite montage image illustrates the general features and organisation. (D) Interstereociliary cross-links in diagrammatic representation. The thicknesses of the various links are not drawn to scale.

 


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  		Fig. 3 The mammalian cochlea. (A) Diagram of a cross-section through a single turn of the cochlear spiral. (B) The organ of Corti in cross section. IHC, inner hair cell; OHC, outer hair cell; Dc, Deiters' cell; ip, inner pillar cell; op, outer pillar cell; Hc, Hensen's cells; TM, tectorial membrane; BM, basilar membrane. (C) SEM of the organ of Corti (gerbil) to show the arrangement of hair cells (IHC, OHC) and supporting cells at the apical surface. The Hensen's cells have been removed to expose the bodies of the outermost row of outer hair cells (OHC) and the bodies and phalangeal processes of the outermost row of Deiters' cells (Dc). (D) Thin section through the stria vascularis (mouse) (endolymph at the top). MC, marginal cell; IC, intermediate cell; BC, basal cell; cap, capillary; SL, spiral ligament.

 

   Hair cells
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Hair cells
Supporting cells
 The organ of Corti
 Ion transporting epithelia
 Concluding remarks
 References
 
The hair bundle and cuticular plate

The hair bundle is formed of rows of stereocilia that increase in height in one particular direction across the bundle, and a single kinocilium located behind the row of longest stereocilia (Fig. 2B,C). Stereocilia are plasma membrane bound projections enclosing filaments of the cytoskeletal protein, actin, while the kinocilium is a true cilium, similar to motile cilia. In the hair cells of the organ of Corti, the kinocilium is present only during development, becoming reduced as the cochlea matures to remain only as the basal body in the apical cytoplasm at one side of the stereociliary bundle. The position of the kinocilium (or the basal body) and the longest row of stereocilia define the polarity of the asymmetric hair bundle (Fig. 2B,C). Deflection of the stereocilia towards the longest opens ion channels (the transducer channels), K+ enters and the hair cell becomes depolarised. Deflection in the opposite direction closes the transducer channels and the hair cell becomes hyperpolarised. The transducer channels are located towards the tops of the stereocilia2.

The parallel actin filaments in the stereocilia are closely packed in a semi-crystalline array3 and are cross-linked by fimbrin4 and espin5. The high density of actin filaments and the extensive cross-linking between them imposes rigidity on the shaft of the stereocilium, which tapers at its proximal end (at the apical surface of the hair cell; Fig. 2C) such that, when deflected, the stereocilium pivots at the taper like a stiff rod. The espin gene is mutated in one mouse strain; these ‘Jerker’ mice are deaf and show a vestibular disorder, recognised from their erratic, circling behaviour5. This reveals the importance of actin bundling and the maintenance of stereociliary rigidity to hair cell function. The stereocilia are supported on the cuticular plate (Fig. 2C), a rigid platform formed of a meshwork of actin filaments in the apical cytoplasm of the hair cell at the level of the junction between the hair and supporting cells6. Actin filaments descend from the stereocilium into the cuticular plate as a rootlet (Fig. 2C) which is cross-linked into the actin meshwork. In addition to actin, the cuticular plate contains spectrin7, a protein which cross-links between actin filaments and has elastic, deformation-resisting properties, and tropomyosin6, a protein that binds round actin and stiffens it. Around its lateral margin, the cuticular plate is linked to the lateral plasma membrane at the level of the intercellular junction8 with which on the supporting cell side, actin and other cytoskeletal proteins are also associated. This may provide a means of support for the cuticular plate so that the stereocilia themselves are supported on a rigid platform enhancing their ability to respond to small displacement forces.

Various members of the myosin family of motor proteins, types 1c, 6, 7a and 15 – all unconventional (non-muscle) isotypes, are also localised in the cuticular plate region and the stereocilia. As shown in Table 1, mice with mutations in the genes for myosins 6, 7a or 15 all show deafness and balance disorders and abnormalities in their stereociliary bundles9. In the mouse mutant where myosin 6 is defective (Snell's waltzer), stereocilia are fused and greatly lengthened10. Interestingly, a similar anomaly is seen in the human organ of Corti from elderly people and may be related to hearing loss with age11. It has been suggested that myosin 6 may be involved in holding the apical plasma membrane of the hair cell on to the cuticular plate in the regions between the stereociliary bases so that individual stereocilia can be maintained and when it is defective that membrane region becomes detached. In mice where myosin 15 is mutated (Shaker 2) stereocilia are greatly reduced in height12 indicating that this myosin isotype may have some role in stereociliary maintenance, but its precise function is not yet clear. Mutations in the myosin 7a gene are responsible for Usher's syndrome type 1B13. The mutant mouse strain carrying this mutation (Shaker 1) shows hair bundles in which groups of stereocilia are separated from each other at the hair cell apex and the kinocilium is misplaced suggesting an effect on maintenance of orientation and interstereociliary stabilisation14. Myosin 7a may have a role in the various cross-links that are present between stereocilia.


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  		Table 1. Mouse strains and mutations referred to in the text. For further information see also Steel and Kros9 or Hereditary Hearing Impairment in Mice <http://www.jax.org/research/hhim>

 
The stereocilia in an individual hair bundle are connected by a variety of fibrillar extracellular cross-links (Fig. 2D)15. Lateral links connect the shaft of one stereocilium to its neighbours. A ‘tip-link’ runs from the top of a stereocilium to the shaft of an adjacent longer stereocilium along the line of morphological and functional polarity16. The tip-link is thought to be a gating element that controls the opening of the transduction channel17. As the bundle moves in the excitatory direction, tension on the link opens the channel; when the bundle moves in the opposite direction, tension is relieved and the channel closes. High resolution imaging has suggested that the tip-link is formed of coiled filaments18,19. Currently, the molecular identity of the tip-link, or that of the transduction channel, is unknown. The transduction channel was initially assumed to be at the lower end of the tip-link, i.e. on the top of the shorter stereocilium, but more recent evidence has shown that transduction channels can be present at the top end, i.e. on the side of the taller stereocilium20. Myosin 1c localises to the region near the upper insertion point of the tip-link (on the shaft of the longer stereocilium)21 and is thought to be involved in an adaptation motor that closes the transduction channel when the stereocilium is exposed to a sustained excitatory deflection, thereby restoring sensitivity to further stimulation. Elegant experiments involving genetic manipulations of the structure of the myosin 1c molecule have recently shown that this molecule is indeed involved in adaptation in vestibular hair cells22. Myosin 7a may also play a role in controlling tip-link tension. In the cochlea, defects in myosin 7a cause a large decrease in the sensitivity of transduction channel opening to stereociliary deflection suggesting that in the absence of functional myosin 7a the channels are generally closed and that tension on the gating spring is significantly reduced23.

There are thought to be at least three different types of lateral links between stereocilia (Fig. 2D)24,25. Ankle links (which are absent from the hair cells of the organ of Corti, but present in the hair bundles of mammalian vestibular organs and the auditory and vestibular hair cells of non-mammalian vertebrates) connect stereocilia at their proximal ends. Shaft connectors are present along the mid-region of the stereociliary shaft. Top-connectors link stereocilia laterally just below the level of the tip-links. These subpopulations of lateral links have been identified through the use of antibodies that specifically label each sub-population separately. This indicates differences in composition between the links and their distinction from the tip-link. The lateral links may have a role in holding the bundle together to stabilise it and to couple mechanically deflections of the stereocilia so that the stereocilia in a single bundle all move as a unit. Mutations in the genes for two different members of the cadherin family, proteins involved in adhesion between the plasma membranes of adjacent cells, have been shown to cause deafness and balance disorders: (i) protocadherin (Pcdh15) which is defective in the ‘Ames waltzer’ mouse mutant26 and is the protein defective in Usher's syndrome type 1F;27 and (ii) cadherin 23 (Cdh23) which is defective in the ‘waltzer’ mouse strain and is the underlying cause of Usher's syndrome type 1D in humans28. These proteins localise to the stereocilia and, in the mutant mouse strains where they are defective, the stereocilia are splayed out. Pcdh15 and Cdh23 are, therefore, good candidates for proteins of which lateral links may be composed. Myosin 7a may be associated with some of the lateral links. It localises to this region of the stereocilia and the molecule contains a domain that can complex with a protein called vezatin that has been localised to the basal region of the stereocilia and that in turn can complex with cadherins29. Myosin 7a, vezatin and cadherins may form complexes that maintain lateral tension between stereocilia keeping them both separate but functionally co-ordinated and consequently mutations in the myosin 7a gene lead to a break up of the bundle.

The lateral plasma membrane

The lateral membrane of a hair cell is characterised by the presence of a variety of ion channels (see Ashmore, this volume)30. Outwardly rectifying K+ channels open when the hair cell is depolarised following stereociliary deflection and permit the outward flow of K+ to re-polarise the hair cell. Depolarisation also leads to the opening of voltage-gated Ca2+ channels allowing influx of Ca2+ that stimulates the release of neurotransmitter at the synapses on to the primary afferent nerve endings. In this way, stereociliary deflection opening transduction channels and producing depolarisation is coupled to neural discharge. Hair cells in some rodent species also possess inwardly rectifying K+ channels, that open when the cell is hyperpolarised to restore hair cell resting potentials. Channels with these general properties can have different physiological characteristics in terms of their voltage-dependence, the speed with which they respond (fast or delayed) and the size of the current that flows through them. A number of different types of hair cell are recognised depending of their location (auditory or vestibular), innervation pattern (afferent or efferent) and species; there are differences between hair cell types in the numbers of ion-channels and which members of the various physiological types of ion-channel, each the product of different genes, they possess30.

In addition to ion-channels, hair cells in the organ of Corti show other specialisations of their lateral plasma membrane that are associated with particular unique functions that these cells perform (see below).


   Supporting cells
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Hair cells
 Supporting cells
The organ of Corti
 Ion transporting epithelia
 Concluding remarks
 References
 
The supporting cells provide mechanical support to the epithelium and the hair cells. Their cell bodies contact each other and rest on the extracellular matrix that underlies the sensory epithelium (Fig. 2A), but the nature of the adhesion molecules involved in the cell–matrix interaction are not yet known. Phalangeal processes run from the cell body between the hair cell bodies to the lumenal surface where they expand to fill the spaces between hair cells (Figs 2A & 3B). Supporting cells posses a fairly extensive cytoskeletal system that is particularly well developed in the supporting cells of the organ of Corti (see below). In the apical cytoplasm, there are cytoskeletal assemblies containing the ß-form of actin in filamentous bundles that run parallel to the lumenal surface of the cell anchoring to the adherens-like region of the intercellular junction of the adjacent hair cell. They also contain intermediate filaments, cytoskeletal proteins, mainly several different isotypes of cytokeratins31, an intermediate filament type usually associated with epidermal cells, but vimentin also is present in supporting cells31,32. Vimentin is usually associated with mesenchymal cells, especially muscle cells. Its presence in the epidermal supporting cells is unusual but, since vimentin provides rigidity, its presence in supporting cells may be a reflection of the role in providing a rigid structural support to hair cells that these cells play.

Supporting cells are coupled to each other by large numbers of large gap junctions33,34. Gap junctions are sites of direct communication between adjacent cells where clusters of channels in the membrane of one cell are in direct register with clusters of channels in the membrane of its neighbour to form continuous aqueous pores connecting the cytoplasms of the adjacent cells. The protein sub-units that form gap junction channels are members of the connexin protein family. At least 20 different types, or isoforms, of connexin have been identified. Six connexins form a hemi-channel called a connexon, and the connexons of two adjacent cells align symmetrically to form the communication pathway between the cells. Each gap junction can contain up to several thousand connexons (channels). The channels allow the passage of small metabolites (up to 1.2 kDa in size), ions, and second messengers, coupling the cells both electrically and chemically. Numerous gap junctions are present at points of contact adjacent supporting cell bodies and between the head regions of adjacent cells, but there are no gap junctions associated with hair cells. The large size and number of gap junction plaques between all supporting cells mean that the supporting cell population can be regarded as a functional syncitium, but hair cells are functionally isolated from the surrounding supporting cells. Some of these gap junction plaques in inner ear sensory tissues are enormous, amongst the largest in the whole body, several square micrometres (µm2) in area and containing several thousand channels. One role for supporting cells is thought to be to remove K+ ions from the intercellular spaces of the sensory epithelium as they flow through hair cells and thereby maintain the low K+ environment around the body of the hair cell necessary for transduction and sensitivity to stimulation. It has been proposed that the gap junctions provide a means to ferry the K+ away preventing local accumulation. The gap junctions on the organ of Corti and in vestibular sensory epithelia in mammals contain two connexin isoforms, cx26 and cx30. Mutations in the genes for at least three different connexins, connexin 26 (Cx26), Cx30 and Cx31, have been identified as causes of hereditary sensorineural hearing loss. Mutations in the Cx26 gene are the most common cause of non-syndromic hereditary deafness. However, connexin mutations do not appear to cause balance dysfunction. The effects on hearing maybe related, in addition, to the presence of gap junctions in the lateral wall of the cochlea (see below).


   The organ of Corti
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Hair cells
 Supporting cells
 The organ of Corti
Ion transporting epithelia
 Concluding remarks
 References
 
The mature organ of Corti (Fig. 3A–C) is a ridge of cells resting on the basilar membrane, the underlying extracellular matrix. The basilar membrane and attendant organ of Corti coil in a spiral the length of which varies with species; in humans it is about 35 mm long (range, 28–40 mm)35 but around 20 mm in guinea pigs and 40 mm in whales. The width increases systematically from the base, where high frequency sounds are detected, to the apex which is most sensitive to low frequencies. The two hair cell types, inner and outer hair cells (IHC, OHC), are regularly arranged in most mammals with a single row of IHC on the inner side of the spiral and three, sometimes four, rows of OHC (Fig. 3C). The human organ of Corti, however, appears less well ordered with sometimes two ranks of IHC and the rows of OHC being less clearly definable and less evenly spaced than in the cochleae of lower mammals35. Within the body of the organ of Corti are large extracellular spaces around the OHC – the spaces of Nuel – and between the outer hair cell region and the inner hair cells – the tunnel of Corti (Fig. 3B). These spaces are created by morphological specialisations of the supporting cells in which the phalangeal processes between the cell body region and expanded head at the apical (lumenal) end become reduced in width. The spaces are filled with perilymph as the basilar membrane is freely permeable to ions. The border between perilymph and endolymph thus lies at the level of the junctions at the lumenal side of the organ of Corti.

Hair cells

IHC are approximately flask shaped and their hair bundles are in an approximately straight line or wide ‘U’-shape so that their hair bundles appear to form an almost continuous fence along the inner aspect of the organ of Corti (Fig. 3C). The hair bundles of the IHC do not appear to contact the overlying tectorial membrane. OHC are cylindrical, with a basally positioned nucleus. Their hair bundles form a characteristic ‘W’-shape (Fig. 3C) and contact the underside of the overlying tectorial membrane in which impressions of the longest stereocilia from the OHC can be seen. The two hair cell types show very different innervation patterns36. IHC are innervated exclusively by afferent nerves and 90–95% of all the afferent nerves from the cochlea to the brain arise from IHCs with several different afferents synapsing with each IHC. Efferent endings to the IHC region arise ipsilaterally from the lateral superior olive in the mid-brain and contact the afferent nerves below the level of the hair cell, not the hair cells themselves. These efferent nerves constitute only about 20% of the efferent innervation to the organ of Corti. OHC, in contrast, are directly innervated by several large bouton-like efferent endings. About 80% of the efferent cochlear innervation terminates on OHCs. These OHC efferent nerves arise mainly contralaterally in the medial portion of the superior olive. Afferent nerves to the OHC region, which constitute only 5–10% of the total cochlear afferent innervation, branch considerably within the organ of Corti so that an individual neurone synapses with several OHC. These innervation patterns alone indicate that IHC are the primary receptor cells, while OHCs would appear to have some modulatory role.

OHCs increase in length systematically from the base of the cochlear spiral to the apex. They are longer in the apical cochlear coils than in basal coils. In the guinea pig, for example, OHC length varies from ~20 µm at the basal end to ~65 µm in apical coils37. The length of the longest stereocilia on OHC also increase in height systematically along the organ of Corti, in humans from ~2.5 µm in the basal coils to ~7.0 µm at the apex38. At any one position of the organ of Corti, OHC length and stereocilia height also increase from the innermost row to the outermost. These systematic changes mean that the length of the cell body and height of the stereocilia for a particular OHC are precisely defined for its position on the basilar membrane. In contrast, the length of IHC and the height of their stereocilia do not vary greatly.

The loss of OHCs in the continued presence of functioning IHCs results in hearing threshold shifts of ~60–80 dB and in loss of fine tuning in auditory nerves and thus of the exquisite frequency discrimination of which the cochlea is normally capable. These findings suggested the OHCs as sites of a ‘cochlear amplifier’. Isolated OHCs maintained in short-term culture undergo fast reversible length changes at up to auditory frequencies (at least 20 kHz) when stimulated electrically. It is thought that in vivo changes in OHC potential deriving from the normal transduction mechanism drives the length changes39, and these changes feed into the basilar membrane motion to enhance it in a frequency specific manner. The end result is to fine tune and amplify the signal that reaches the IHC40.

The motor protein that drives the fast motile response is located in the lateral plasma membrane of the OHC. Freeze-fracture, a technique which exposes membranes in face view, shows the plasma membrane of OHC to contain an unusually high density of closely packed, large intramembrane particles (~6000 per mm2)41. These particles represent intramembrane proteins and no other hair cell type shows similarly high intramembrane protein densities. During organ of Corti maturation, the acquisition and increase in number of these particles on OHC membranes coincides with the time course and onset of motile properties42. The particles are, therefore, thought to represent the motor protein. In recent elegant studies, identification of mRNAs unique to OHCs in comparison with IHCs enabled the cloning of the complementary DNA of the OHC motor protein which has been christened ‘prestin’5. This protein is unique to OHCs. Immunolocalisation studies show prestin to be present in the lateral plasma membrane exclusively in OHC, that its appearance during development coincides with the onset of motile responses, and its forced expression in unspecialised epithelial cells in cultures results in those cells acquiring electrical characteristics and motile responses similar to OHCs43. It is thought prestin interacts with intracellular anions, principally chloride, which cause a reversible conformational change in the prestin molecules that results in enlargement of membrane surface area43.

Immediately underlying the lateral plasma membrane of the OHC is an organised cytoskeletal complex, the cortical lattice44, composed of actin filaments running helically around the cell cross-linked by spectrin, a protein with elastic properties. Regularly arranged short pillar-like structures appear to link the lattice to the inner side of the plasma membrane41,45. It has been suggested that the lattice gives rigid support to the plasma membrane preventing deformation, but also acts like a spring providing a restoring force after length increase, with the pillar-like structures, so far of unidentified composition, coupling plasma membrane shape change to the lattice. Inside the lattice and parallel to the lateral plasma membrane is one to several (depending on species and location along the organ of Corti) layers of membrane-bound sacs, the lateral cisternae, which appear to form a continuous network-like system within the entire lateral wall of the OHC46. Ca2+-ATPase (an enzyme that actively transports Ca2+ against a concentration gradient) localises to the membranes of the cisternae47 and many mitochondria are located along the inner aspect of the innermost cisternal layer. The function of this specialised smooth endoplasmic reticulum system has not been fully identified, but the presence of the Ca2+-ATPase and the association of mitochondria suggest the cisternae sequester Ca2+.

Supporting cells

Several different morphologically recognisable types of supporting cell are present in the mature organ of Corti (Fig. 3B)6. The Deiters' cells between OHCs have cell bodies in contact with each other and rest on the basilar membrane. Each one forms a cup-shaped enclosure around the very base of an OHC and its nerve endings. The thin phalangeal processes extend through the space of Nuel so that the entire lateral side of each OHC is free of contact with supporting cells; contact between the OHC and its surrounding supporting cells is only at the apical junctional complex. The outer and inner hair cells are separated by the outer and inner pillar cells, the phalangeal processes of which form the tunnel of Corti, the outer pillar cell buttressing against the inner pillar cell (Fig 3B)48. The inner hair cell itself is closely surrounded by supporting cells. To the outside of the OHC are Hensen's cells which, especially in the more apical coils of the organ of Corti, contain large lipid droplets. These are thought to provide a mechanical loading to the cells that influences the mechanical properties of the organ of Corti and its motion in response to sound stimulation.

The Deiters' and pillar cells are thought to provide mechanical support that has a significant role in mechanical activity that leads to stimulation of the hair cells in response to sound. They contain large numbers of microtubules in parallel arrays running from the base to apex of the cell6. These arrays are some of the largest microtubule bundles in the entire body48, and would act like scaffolding poles to provide rigidity. The tubulin composing the microtubules of these supporting cells is in a form that is resistant to de-polymerisation suggesting that the microtubules are long-lived structures49. The rigidity of the supporting cells provides a means to couple basilar membrane motion to movement of the entire organ of Corti to produce the relative motion between the apical surface of the sensory epithelium and the overlying tectorial membrane that results in deflection of the hair bundles. Loss of supporting cell rigidity would, therefore, result in decoupling of basilar membrane motion from the tectorial membrane motion and loss of hearing acuity. It has been suggested that this may occur with ageing50.

The basilar membrane

The basilar membrane (BM), upon which the organ of Corti sits, is a sheet of predominantly extracellular matrix structure composed of filaments within a ground substance, with a discontinuous layer of thin, elongated tympanic border cells on the underside facing the perilymph of the scala tympani6. The fibrils of the basilar membrane run predominantly radially, and are composed of collagen, mostly collagen type IV {alpha}1–{alpha}5 chains (COL4A1–COL4A5)51. In addition, fibronectin52 and laminin type 1153, adhesive-type molecules common to extracellular matrices, are localised to the basilar membrane and presumably compose the ground substance in which the collagen fibrils reside. The composition of the BM does not appear to be unique in comparison with basement membranes elsewhere in the body, but a novel extracellular matrix protein (named ‘usherin’) has been identified through the genetic mutation that is associated with Usher's syndrome type IIa54, in which there is high frequency hearing loss. Mutations in the genes for the proteins composing the basilar membrane might be expected to affect the mechanical responses of the organ of Corti in response to sound and thereby cause hearing impairment. X-linked Alport's syndrome has been attributed to mutations in the gene for the COL4A5 gene. It has been suggested that the loss of this protein from the basilar membrane affects the ability to create tension through interactions with the tension fibrocytes in the cochlear lateral wall resulting in the high frequency hearing loss associated with this condition55.

Tectorial membrane

The tectorial membrane (TM) is a structured sheet of extracellular matrix material that overlies the organ of Corti. It is attached to the interdental cells of the spiral limbus at its inner edge, but appears not to be attached to the surface of the organ of Corti at its outer edge. The longest stereocilia of each OHC are embedded in the underside of the TM. Through this coupling, relative movement between the TM and the apical surface of the organ of Corti in response to sound-induced motion of the basilar membrane produces deflections of the OHC stereocilia. IHC stereocilia may contact and be deflected by Hensen's stripe, a ridge running along the middle of the underside of the TM just outside the position of the IHC stereocilia. The body of the TM is formed of fibre bundles running approximately radially, embedded within a matrix composed of striated sheets formed of fine cross-linked fibrils56. The fibre bundles are formed of collagen types II, V and IX57,58, which are different types from those in the BM. Associated with the collagen bundles is a glycoprotein unique to the inner ear, otogelin59, defects in which result in the ‘Twister’ mouse phenotype60. The matrix of the TM also is composed of glycoproteins that are unique to the inner ear, {alpha}- and ß-tectorin61,62. Tectorins and otogelin are also present in the otolithic membranes that cover the saccular and utricular maculae and otogelin is present in the cupulae of the cristae, but none of these glycoproteins are found elsewhere in the body. Consequently, mutations in the genes for these proteins are associated with non-syndromic hearing loss in humans59,63. Expression of the mRNAs for otogelin64 and the tectorins65 is detected only during development of the cochlea; they are not expressed in the organ of Corti of adults. Thus, the tectorial membrane is a life-long structure produced only during cochlear development and there is no turn-over of the proteins. This would imply that if the tectorial membrane were damaged it would not be repaired.


   Ion transporting epithelia
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Hair cells
 Supporting cells
 The organ of Corti
 Ion transporting epithelia
Concluding remarks
 References
 
The stria vascularis (SV) lines the lateral wall of the scala media (Fig. 3A). It is responsible for the production and maintenance of both the high endolymphatic K+ concentration and the EP1. The SV encloses a complex capillary network and is composed of three cell types: (i) the marginal cells which line the endolymphatic compartment; (ii) intermediate cells in a discontinuous layer enclosed entirely within the body of the epithelium; and (iii) the basal cells that separate the SV from the underlying spiral ligament (Fig. 3D). Endolymph composition in the vestibular system is maintained by the dark cells. The dark cells form a single layer resting on top of pigmented cells at the base of the skirts of each crista in the semi-circular canals and around the utricular macula. There is no dark cell region in the saccule. The dark cells are essentially identical morphologically and functionally to the marginal cells of the stria.

Marginal cells of stria vascularis and dark cells of the vestibular system

The marginal cells of the SV and vestibular dark cells are primarily involved with the transport of K+. Their basolateral membranes are extensively infolded, enclosing numerous large mitochondria and they contain high levels of Na+/K+-ATPase, both {alpha}- and ß-isoforms66, which transports K+ into the cell in exchange for Na+. The infoldings provide a large surface area over which ion exchange can occur and the numerous large mitochondria enclosed within them provides the energy source (ATP) for the active ion transport. The basolateral membranes contain in addition a Na+/K+/Cl--co-transporter (NKCC1)67 that transports the three ions into the cell. The uptake of Na+ enhances ATPase activity by stimulating the outward transport of Na+ and, thus, the inward transport of K+1. NKCC1 is the therapeutic target of action for loop diuretics in the kidney and loop diuretics have rapid, acute ototoxic side-effects through an action on the co-transporter in the strial marginal cells (and vestibular dark cells) inhibiting ion transport resulting in accumulation of ions in the extracellular spaces of the stria and a consequent oedema.

The apical membranes of the marginal cells and the dark cells contain a K+ channel which is formed of two subunits, the KCNE1 regulatory protein and the KCNQ1 channel proteins68 (these subunits were formally named IsK and KvQLT1, respectively). This channel provides the pathway through which K+ is secreted into endolymph69. Mutations in the KCNE1 gene disrupt endolymph production leading, in the cochlea, to collapse of Reissner's membrane and deafness, and in the vestibular system to collapse of the epithelia of the roof of the utricle, saccule and ampullae and shaker/waltzer-type behaviours in mice indicating dysfunction of the vestibular sensory organs68.

During development, high levels of K+ are found in cochlear endolymph, and strial marginal cells show high Na/K-ATPase activity, before an EP can be recorded70. In the vestibular system, there is no high positive potential equivalent to EP recordable in the vestibular endolymphatic compartment yet dark cells and marginal cells appear to have almost identical morphology and physiology. These, and other physiological data1, indicate that strial marginal cells, and dark cells, are primarily concerned with active K+ transport to maintain the concentration of that ion in endolymph, but the generation of EP is a separate phenomenon. The absence of any other cell type from the ion transporting tissue of the vestibular system suggests that the intermediate and/or basal cells in the stria play a role in EP generation.

Intermediate cells of SV
 The intermediate cells are melanocytes – melanin pigment-containing cells – that arise during development from cells that migrate from the neural crest. They are entirely enclosed within the corpus of the stria, interdigitating with the other two cell types. They contain a variety of enzymes that enable energy production from alternative substrates such as lipids as well as enzymes that detoxify oxidative wastes71. Coupled with the presence of melanin, that can act as a free radical scavenger, this suggests that one role for intermediate cells is to protect the stria under conditions of stress and perhaps also to provide alternative energy sources to maintain activity during periods of reduced blood supply. Intermediate cells also appear to have a role in the generation and maintenance of EP. In the viable dominant spotting mouse mutant, there is a neural crest defect, intermediate cells are highly reduced in number or completely absent, and there is no EP generated72; other than the absence of intermediate cells, the stria appears normal and the marginal cells possess ATPase activity73.

Basal cells
 The basal cells are flattened and elongated, forming 1–3 layers delimiting the basal aspect of the stria. They arise during development from the mesenchymal cells that also form the spiral ligament. Basal cells closely appose each other and tight junctions are present between the adjacent cells across the entire region of contact. During development, the initial formation of the tight junctions and the increase in their complexity coincides with the initial onset of EP, suggesting that these junctions are necessary to provide the electrical insulation required for the potential to be generated and maintained.

In addition, large numbers of gap junctions are associated with basal cells74. They are present between adjacent basal cells, basal and intermediate cells and basal cells and fibrocytes in the spiral ligament33,34,75. Thus, basal cells appear to be the central element in a coupled unit consisting of basal cells, intermediate cells, and spiral ligament fibrocytes. Marginal cells are excluded from this syncitium; they do not form gap junctions either with each other or with either basal or intermediate cells33,34 and are thus separated, functionally, from each other and from the basal cell/intermediate cell/ligament fibrocyte coupled unit.

As gap junctions provide for direct cell-to-cell communication, the coupling between basal cells and ligament fibrocytes potentially provides a pathway for access of ions into stria cells from the ligament that bypasses the tight junctional sealing. Fibrocytes of the spiral ligament possess Na+/K+-ATPase activity66 and thus probably function to take up K+ from the perilymph. The gap junctions between fibrocytes would, therefore, provide an intracellular route for K+ to those fibrocytes beneath the SV, which are coupled to strial basal cells and, in turn, for K+ entry into strial cells. This gap junction system, therefore, provides a route for re-cycling of K+: from endolymph, through hair cells to perilymph in the spaces in the organ of Corti, into supporting cells and then to the spiral ligament; into fibrocytes, then to stria and back to endolymph. The intercellular communication provided by gap junctions may, therefore, be important for the maintenance of EP. During development, the initial onset and subsequent rise in EP corresponds with the initial formation and subsequent increase in size and number of gap junctions associated with basal cells70. The gap junctions in the cochlear lateral wall – stria vascularis and spiral ligament – in rodents are all composed of both cx26 and cx3076. Thus, mutations in the Cx26 gene might be expected to affect K+ recycling and EP generation.


   Concluding remarks
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Hair cells
 Supporting cells
 The organ of Corti
 Ion transporting epithelia
 Concluding remarks
References
 
Analysis of the structure and function of the inner ear has lagged behind that of many other body tissues. This was due, in part, to the relative inaccessibility of the inner ear tissues and the small number of specialised cells they contain (~15,000 hair cells in total in a single cochlea35). However, our understanding of the complexities of the architectural organisation necessary for cochlear and vestibular function has advanced so rapidly that the inner ear is becoming a major model for post-genomic studies, the attempt to discover for what all the genes identified in the human genome actually code. More specifically, the continuing identification of the molecular basis of inner ear function is laying the basis for developing rational new approaches to diagnosis, management and treatment of auditory and vestibular disorders.


   Footnotes
 
Correspondence to: Prof. Andrew Forge, UCL Centre for Auditory Research, Institute of Laryngology & Otology, 330–332 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1X 8EE, UK


   References
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Hair cells
 Supporting cells
 The organ of Corti
 Ion transporting epithelia
 Concluding remarks
 References
 

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