title: Morphological and functional characteristics of the different cell types in the stria vascularis: a comparison between cells obtained from fresh tissue preparations and cells cultured in vitro.
abstract: Endolymph is the only extracellular fluid in the body which is characterized by an intracellular-like ion composition. The molecular mechanisms responsible for the production of endolymph and the regulation of endolymph composition are still unknown to a large extent, although the stria vascularis (SV) is believed to play an important role for these functions. A basic requirement for investigating the function of different cell types in the SV is the establishment of a method, which increases the accessibility of the tissue with maintained cell viability and function. In this study, fresh tissue preparations and cultured cells from SV, harvested from pigmented guinea pigs, were established. Marginal cells, intermediate/melanocyte-like cells and fibroblasts could be discerned in the cell cultures with bright-field microscopy, transmission and scanning electron microscopy as well as immunohistochemistry, using polyclonal antibodies against cytokeratin and vimentin. In order to study functional characteristics of the fresh tissue preparations and the cell cultures, changes in the cytoplasmic free Ca2+ concentration were determined with the fura-2 method. The cultured cells, of different types in the SV, are a suitable model for future studies of the molecular mechanisms behind the production of endolymph and the regulation of endolymph composition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Karolinska Hospital, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Agrup
authors.forename: P O
authors.initials: PO
authors.lastname: Berggren
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Köhler
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Spångberg
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bagger-Sjöbäck
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D048429:Cell Size; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004710:Endolymph / Q000378:metabolism; D004847:Epithelial Cells; D004848:Epithelium / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005260:Female; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology; D016257:Fura-2 / Q000737:chemistry; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007633:Keratins / Q000737:chemistry; D008297:Male; D008544:Melanocytes / Q000166:cytology; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D013316:Stria Vascularis / Q000166:cytology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014746:Vimentin / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D014746:Vimentin; D007633:Keratins; D002118:Calcium; D016257:Fura-2