title: Apoptotic hair cell death after transient cochlear ischemia in gerbils.
abstract: The mechanisms of cochlear hair cell death following exposure to transient inner ear ischemia were investigated in gerbils histologically. The animals were subjected to ischemic insult by occluding both vertebral arteries for 15 min. Hoechst 33342 nuclear staining showed that inner hair cells (IHCs) underwent sporadic degeneration via nuclear condensation, which peaked 12 hours after the ischemia. Furthermore, nuclear DNA fragmentation was noted by the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate (dUTP)-biotin nick end labeling method. Transmission electron microscopy revealed morphological changes in the IHCs characteristic of apoptosis, including karyopyknosis, chromatin condensation. These findings suggest that apoptotic cell death is the major process in hair cell degeneration in this animal model.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Ehime University School of Medicine, Ehime, Shigenobu-cho, Onsen-gun, Ehime 79100295, Japan. taniguchi@m.ehime-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Masafumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.forename: Nobuhiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hakuba
authors.forename: Kenichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Koga
authors.forename: Futoshi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hyodo
authors.forename: Kiyofumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gyo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D001562:Benzimidazoles; D006224:Cricetinae; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D006198:Hair Cells, Auditory / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D020287:In Situ Nick-End Labeling; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D001562:Benzimidazoles; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; C017807:bisbenzimide ethoxide trihydrochloride