We developed a transgenic mouse to permit conditional and selective ablation of hair cells in the adult mouse utricle by inserting the human diphtheria toxin receptor (DTR) gene into the Pou4f3 gene, which encodes a hair cell-specific transcription factor. In adult wild-type mice, administration of diphtheria toxin (DT) caused no significant hair cell loss. In adult Pou4f3(+/DTR) mice, DT treat...

Hair differentiates from follicle stem cells through progenitor cells in the matrix. In contrast to stem cells in the bulge, the identities of the progenitors and the mechanisms by which they regulate hair shaft components are poorly understood. Hair is also pigmented by melanocytes in the follicle. However, the niche that regulates follicular melanocytes is not well characterized. Here, we rep...

Cochlear hair cells and the stria vascularis are critical for normal hearing. Hair cells transduce mechanical stimuli into electrical signals, whereas the stria is responsible for generating the endocochlear potential (EP), which is the driving force for hair cell mechanotransduction. We questioned whether hair cells and the stria interdepend for survival by using two mouse models. Atoh1 condit...

BACKGROUND Hair cells in the auditory, vestibular, and lateral-line systems respond to mechanical stimulation and transmit information to afferent nerve fibers. The sensitivity of mechanoelectrical transduction is modulated by the efferent pathway, whose activity usually reduces the responsiveness of hair cells. The basis of this effect remains unknown. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We e...

Hair loss is a prevalent medical condition affecting both genders. In this study, we investigate the effects of specific class extracellular vesicles (EVs), namely human normal fibroblast-derived EVs (hFB-EVs), on dermal papilla (DP) and outer root sheath (ORS) cells examine molecular mechanisms responsible for hair growth in follicles (HFs). We find that Wnt3a, which maintains hair-generating ...

The prevalence of hearing loss after damage to the mammalian cochlea has been thought to be due to a lack of spontaneous regeneration of hair cells, the primary receptor cells for sound. Here, we show that supporting cells, which surround hair cells in the normal cochlear epithelium, differentiate into new hair cells in the neonatal mouse following ototoxic damage. Using lineage tracing, we sho...

The auditory epithelium in birds and mammals consists of a postmitotic population of hair cells and supporting cells. Unlike mammals, birds can regenerate their auditory epithelia after trauma. Recent evidence indicates that supporting cells undergo mitosis after acoustic trauma, suggesting that supporting cells may transdifferentiate into hair cells. The goals of this study were to 1) characte...