Electrical and Immunohistochemical Properties of Cochlear Fibrocytes in 3D Cell Culture and in the Excised Spiral Ligament of Mice

Abstract

Fibrocyte degeneration in the cochlear lateral wall is one possible pathology of age-related metabolic hearing loss (presbycusis). Within the lateral wall fibrocytes play a role in potassium recycling and maintenance of the endocochlear potential. It has been proposed that cell replacement therapy could prevent fibrocyte degeneration in the CD/1 mouse model of hearing loss. For this to work, the replacement fibrocytes would need to take over the structural and physiological role of those lost. We have grown lateral wall fibrocytes from neonatal CD/1 mice in a 3D-collagen gel culture with the aim of assessing their functional similarity to native lateral wall fibrocytes, the latter in a slice preparation and in excised spiral ligament pieces. We have compared cultured and native fibrocytes using both immuno-labelling of characteristic proteins and single cell electrophysiology. Cultured fibrocytes exhibited rounded cell bodies with extending processes. They labelled with marker antibodies targeting aquaporin 1 and calcium-binding protein S-100, precluding an unambiguous identification of fibrocyte type. In whole-cell voltage clamp, both native and cultured fibrocytes exhibited non-specific currents and voltage-dependent K+ currents. The non-specific currents from gel-cultured and excised spiral ligament fibrocytes were partially and reversibly blocked by external TEA (10 mM). The TEA-sensitive current had a mean reversal potential of + 26 mV, suggesting a permeability sequence of Na+  > K+. These findings indicate that 3D-cultured fibrocytes share a number of characteristics with native spiral ligament fibrocytes and thus might represent a suitable population for transplantation therapy aimed at treating age-related hearing loss.

Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10162-021-00833-z
Divisions: College of Health & Life Sciences > Aston Pharmacy School
College of Health & Life Sciences > Aston Institute of Health & Neurodevelopment (AIHN)
College of Health & Life Sciences
Additional Information: © 2022 The Author(s). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Funding: The research was supported by RNID (PA10).
Uncontrolled Keywords: Cochlea,Collagen hydrogel,Fibrocyte,Immunolabelling,Whole-cell recording,Otorhinolaryngology,Sensory Systems
Publication ISSN: 1438-7573
Last Modified: 18 Mar 2024 08:37
Date Deposited: 20 Jan 2022 09:27
Full Text Link:
Related URLs: https://link.sp ... 162-021-00833-z (Publisher URL)
http://www.scop ... tnerID=8YFLogxK (Scopus URL)
PURE Output Type: Article
Published Date: 2022-04
Published Online Date: 2022-01-18
Accepted Date: 2021-12-23
Authors: Osborn, Anya
Caruana, Douglas A. (ORCID Profile 0000-0002-8687-0263)
Furness, David N.
Evans, Michael G.

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