The position-dependent specification of the hair and non-hair cell types in the Arabidopsis root epidermis provides a simple model for the study of cell fate determination in plants. Several putative transcriptional regulators are known to influence this cell fate decision. Indirect evidence from studies with the maize R gene has been used to suggest that a bHLH transcription factor also partic...

There are many cell types in the hair follicle, including hair matrix cells which form the hair shaft and stem cells which can initiate the hair shaft during early anagen, the growth phase of the hair cycle, as well as pluripotent stem cells that play a role in hair follicle growth but have the potential to differentiate to non-follicle cells such as neurons. These properties of the hair follic...

In humans, auditory hair cells are not replaced when injured. Thus, cochlear hair cell loss causes progressive and permanent hearing loss. Conversely, non-mammalian vertebrates are capable of regenerating lost sensory hair cells. The zebrafish lateral line has numerous qualities that make it well-suited for studying hair cell development and regeneration. Histone deacetylase (HDAC) activity has...

The regeneration of sensory hair cells in lateral line neuromasts of axolotls was investigated via nearly continuous time-lapse microscopic observation after all preexisting hair cells were killed by a laser microbeam. The laser treatments left neuromasts with one resident cell type, which was supporting cells. Over the course of 1 week, replacement hair cells arose either directly via differen...

Control of the extracellular environment of inner ear hair cells by ionic transporters is crucial for hair cell function. In addition to inner ear hair cells, aquatic vertebrates have hair cells on the surface of their body in the lateral line system. The ionic environment of these cells also appears to be regulated, although the mechanisms of this regulation are less understood than those of t...

The inner ear macular sensory epithelia of the Daubenton's bat were examined quantitatively to estimate the area and total number of hair cells. Ultrastructural examination of the sensory epithelium reveals two main types of hair cells: the chalice-innervated hair cell and the bouton-innervated hair cell. The existence of an intermediate type, with a nerve ending covering the lateral side of th...

Pure-tone overstimulation for prolonged time leads to hair cell death in frequency-specific regions of the cochlear epithelium. Unlike mammals, birds replace missing hair cells by stimulating mitosis in an uncharacterized precursor cell. Regenerated hair cells, initially identifiable by their immature stereocilia and small surface areas, differentiate into mature cells in a manner which paralle...

The avian basilar papilla is composed of hair and supporting cells arranged in a regular pattern in which the hair cells are surrounded and isolated from each other by supporting cell processes. This arrangement of cells, in which the apical borders of hair cells do not contact one another, may be generated by contact-mediated lateral inhibition. Little is known, however, about the way in which...