Cilia distribution and polarity in the epithelial lining of the mouse middle ear cavity.

• Authors: Wenwei Luo, Emory University; Hong Yi, Emory University; Jeannette Taylor, Emory University; Jian-dong Li, Georgia State University; Fanglu Chi, Fudan University; Norman Todd Jr., Emory University; Xi Lin, Emory University; Dongdong Ren, Fudan University; Ping Chen, Emory University
• Journal Title: Scientific Reports
• Volume: Volume 7
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group: Open Access Journals | 2017-03-30, Pages 45870-45870
• Type of Work: Article | Final Publisher PDF
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.1038/srep45870
• Subjects: Biology, Cell
• Keywords: Otitis media; chronic OM with effusion; Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia

Abstract

The middle ear conducts sound to the cochlea for hearing. Otitis media (OM) is the most common illness in childhood. Moreover, chronic OM with effusion (COME) is the leading cause of conductive hearing loss. Clinically, COME is highly associated with Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia, implicating significant contributions of cilia dysfunction to COME. The understanding of middle ear cilia properties that are critical to OM susceptibility, however, is limited. Here, we confirmed the presence of a ciliated region near the Eustachian tube orifice at the ventral region of the middle ear cavity, consisting mostly of a lumen layer of multi-ciliated and a layer of Keratin-5-positive basal cells. We also found that the motile cilia are polarized coordinately and display a planar cell polarity. Surprisingly, we also found a region of multi-ciliated cells that line the posterior dorsal pole of the middle ear cavity which was previously thought to contain only non-ciliated cells. Our study provided a more complete understanding of cilia distribution and revealed for the first time coordinated polarity of cilia in the epithelium of the mammalian middle ear, thus illustrating novel structural features that are likely critical for middle ear functions and related to OM susceptibility.