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Identification of Inputs to Olivocochlear Neurons Using Transneuronal Labeling with Pseudorabies Virus (PRV)

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Abstract

Olivocochlear (OC) neurons respond to sound and provide descending input that controls processing in the cochlea. The identities of neurons in the pathways providing inputs to OC neurons are incompletely understood. To explore these pathways, the retrograde transneuronal tracer pseudorabies virus (Bartha strain, expressing green fluorescent protein) was used to label OC neurons and their inputs in guinea pigs. Labeling of OC neurons began 1 day after injection into the cochlea. On day 2 (and for longer survival times), transneuronal labeling spread to the cochlear nucleus, inferior colliculus, and other brainstem areas. There was a correlation between the numbers of these transneuronally labeled neurons and the number of labeled medial (M) OC neurons, suggesting that the spread of labeling proceeds mainly via synapses on MOC neurons. In the cochlear nucleus, the transneuronally labeled neurons were multipolar cells including the subtype known as planar cells. In the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus, transneuronally labeled neurons were of two principal types: neurons with disc-shaped dendritic fields and neurons with dendrites in a stellate pattern. Transneuronal labeling was also observed in pyramidal cells in the auditory cortex and in centers not typically associated with the auditory pathway such as the pontine reticular formation, subcoerulean nucleus, and the pontine dorsal raphe. These data provide information on the identity of neurons providing input to OC neurons, which are located in auditory as well as non-auditory centers.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by NIH grants DCD 1 RO1 DC01089 (to MCB) and DCD 1 K08 DC06285 (to DJL). We thank Dr. L.W. Enquist (Princeton University) for generously providing the PRV 152 (supported by an NIH Virus Center Grant P40RR018604), Dr. Thane E. Benson for helping with the micrographs, and Dr. M. Charles Liberman for comments on a previous version of the manuscript. Preliminary results of this study were presented in abstract form at the Association for Research in Otolaryngology Midwinter Meeting, February, 2010.

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  1. Eaton-Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, 243 Charles St, Boston, MA, 02114, USA

    M. Christian Brown, Sudeep Mukerji, Marie Drottar, Alanna M. Windsor & Daniel J. Lee

  2. Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA

    M. Christian Brown & Daniel J. Lee

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  1. M. Christian Brown
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Correspondence to M. Christian Brown.

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Brown, M.C., Mukerji, S., Drottar, M. et al. Identification of Inputs to Olivocochlear Neurons Using Transneuronal Labeling with Pseudorabies Virus (PRV). JARO 14, 703–717 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10162-013-0400-5

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