title: Epidermal growth factor receptor expression in human fetal cochlea with Turner syndrome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Growth hormones have beneficial effects on increasing height in adults with Turner syndrome (TS) and may also affect auditory function.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Turner syndrome is the most common sex-linked chromosomal abnormality in female conceptions. Epidermal growth factor and its receptor (EGFR) affect differentiation, proliferation, and migration of epithelial cells and function as survival factors. The expression of EGFR is found in the developing and juvenile inner ear of experimental animals but is absent in adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  To determine whether EGFR plays a role in TS, its expression was analyzed in the cochlea of healthy fetus and fetus with TS and in healthy adults.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In healthy fetuses, EGFR protein expression was localized to the inner and outer hair cells and the Reissner membrane. The fetuses with TS on the 13th gestational week (GW) showed a similar pattern of immunoreactivity as the normal 16th and 20th GW cochlea. By the 23rd GW, EGFR immunoreactivity was not detectable in the TS hair cells or the Reissner membrane, and less intensive staining was found in the surrounding fibrocytes of the spiral ganglion.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first demonstration of EGFR immunoreactivity in the human cochlea and illustrates how EGFR expression is altered during development in TS. These findings indicate the importance of growth hormone receptors for inner ear development in humans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: Ilona
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Schwentner
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schmutzhard
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Glueckert
authors.forename: Konstantina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Charitidi
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Falkeis
authors.forename: Consolato
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sergi
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Canlon
authors.forename: Annelies
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schrott-Fischer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003051:Cochlea / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism*; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D005260:Female; D047109:Fetal Development; D006199:Hair Cells, Auditory, Inner / Q000378:metabolism; D018072:Hair Cells, Auditory, Outer / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D011247:Pregnancy; D013136:Spiral Ganglion / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D016707:Tissue Fixation; D014424:Turner Syndrome / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D066246:ErbB Receptors