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Developmentally regulated expression of the P2X3 receptor in the mouse cochlea

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Abstract

ATP-gated non-selective cation channels assembled from P2X3 receptor subunits contribute to transduction and neurotransmitter signaling in peripheral sensory systems and also feature prominently in the development of the central nervous system. In this study, P2X3 receptor expression was characterized in the mouse cochlea from embryonic day 18 (E18) using confocal immunofluorescence. From E18 to P6, spiral ganglion neuron cell bodies and peripheral neurites projecting to the inner and outer hair cells were labeled. The inner spiral plexus associated with the inner hair cell synapses had a stronger fluorescence signal than outer spiral bundle fibers which provide the afferent innervation to the outer hair cells. Labeling in the cell bodies and peripheral neurites diminished around P6, and was no longer detected after the onset of hearing (P11, P17, adult). In opposition to the axiom that P2X3 expression is neuron-specific, inner and outer sensory hair cells were labeled in the base and mid turn region at E18, but at P3 only the outer hair cells in the most apical region of the cochlea continued to express the protein. These data suggest a role for P2X3 receptor-mediated purinergic signaling in cochlear synaptic reorganization, and establishment of neurotransmission, which occurs just prior to the onset of hearing function.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the University of Auckland Biomedical Imaging Resource Unit for supporting the confocal microscopy. This work was funded and supported by the Health Research Council of New Zealand, the Marsden Fund and a James Cook Fellowship provided to GDH (Royal Society of New Zealand). We thank Nicholas Raybould for helpful discussion of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand

    Lin-Chien Huang & Gary D. Housley

  2. Otolaryngology Research Division, Department of Surgery, UCSD School of Medicine and VA Medical Center, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA

    Allen F. Ryan

  3. Roche Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA

    Debra A. Cockayne

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  1. Lin-Chien Huang
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  2. Allen F. Ryan
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Correspondence to Gary D. Housley.

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Huang, LC., Ryan, A.F., Cockayne, D.A. et al. Developmentally regulated expression of the P2X3 receptor in the mouse cochlea. Histochem Cell Biol 125, 681–692 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00418-005-0119-4

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