BACKGROUND Infection due to bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) is endemic in most cattle-producing countries throughout the world. The key elements of a BVDV control programme are biosecurity, elimination of persistently infected animals and surveillance. Bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) is a notifiable disease in Belgium and an official eradication programme started from January 2015, based on te...

The sensory epithelium of the inner ear consists of a mosaic pattern of hair cells separated from one another by supporting cells. The Notch signalling pathway is thought to establish this pattern through a process of lateral inhibition, and has recently been shown to have an early role in inducing sensory patch formation. Several Notch ligands are expressed in the developing sensory patch, but...

The inner ear derives from a patch of ectoderm defined by expression of the transcription factor Pax2. We recently showed that this Pax2(+) ectoderm gives rise not only to the otic placode but also to the surrounding cranial epidermis, and that Wnt signaling mediates this placode-epidermis fate decision. We now present evidence for reciprocal interactions between the Wnt and Notch signaling pat...

Notch signalling is well-known to mediate lateral inhibition in inner ear sensory patches, so as to generate a balanced mixture of sensory hair cells and supporting cells. Recently, however, we have found that ectopic Notch activity at an early stage can induce the formation of ectopic sensory patches. This suggests that Notch activity may have two different functions in normal ear development,...

Hypothesis: We hypothesized that an anomalous change of Notch signaling might be involved in the pathophysiology cholesteatoma. Background: The pathway regulates integrated growth and differentiation control keratinocytes. Its involvement cholesteatoma proliferation has not been elucidated. Methods: obtained external auditory canal (EAC) skin samples from patients with middle ear who underwent ...

In-the-ear calibration of sound pressure level may be problematic at frequencies above 2 kHz, because the pressure can vary significantly along the length of the ear canal, due to reflection of sound waves at the eardrum. This issue has been investigated by measuring behavioral thresholds to tones in a group of human subjects (N = 61) for two different insertion depths of an insert earphone. Th...

AIM To assess the ability of two commercial bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) virus (BVDV) antigen-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) to detect virus in serum and skin biopsies. METHODS Thirty cattle persistently infected (PI) with BVDV were identified using routine diagnostic laboratory testing. Additional ear-notch skin biopsies and blood samples were collected from these animal...

The sensory patches in the vertebrate inner ear are similar in function to the mechanosensory bristles of a fly, and consist of a similar set of cell types. If they are truly homologous structures, they should also develop by similar mechanisms. We examine the genesis of the neurons, hair cells and supporting cells that form the sensory patches in the inner ear of the chick. These all arise fro...

Within the mammalian inner ear there are six separate sensory regions that subserve the functions of hearing and balance, although how these sensory regions become specified remains unknown. Each sensory region is populated by two cell types, the mechanosensory hair cell and the supporting cell, which are arranged in a mosaic in which each hair cell is surrounded by supporting cells. The propos...

The involvement of the Notch signaling pathway in the cellular differentiation of the mammalian kidney is established. Recently, the dysregulation of Notch signaling molecules has been identified in acute and chronic renal injuries, fibrosis models, and diabetic kidney biopsies. The canonical Notch ligand , Jagged1, is upregulated in a transforming growth factor-beta- (TGF- β -) dependent manne...