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Tyrosine Hydroxylase Expression in Type II Cochlear Afferents in Mice

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Abstract

Acoustic information propagates from the ear to the brain via spiral ganglion neurons that innervate hair cells in the cochlea. These afferents include unmyelinated type II fibers that constitute 5 % of the total, the majority being myelinated type I neurons. Lack of specific genetic markers of type II afferents in the cochlea has been a roadblock in studying their functional role. Unexpectedly, type II afferents were visualized by reporter proteins induced by tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-driven Cre recombinase. The present study was designed to determine whether TH-driven Cre recombinase (TH-2A-CreER) provides a selective and reliable tool for identification and genetic manipulation of type II rather than type I cochlear afferents. The “TH-2A-CreER neurons” radiated from the spiral lamina, crossed the tunnel of Corti, turned towards the base of the cochlea, and traveled beneath the rows of outer hair cells. Neither the processes nor the somata of TH-2A-CreER neurons were labeled by antibodies that specifically labeled type I afferents and medial efferents. TH-2A-CreER-positive processes partially co-labeled with antibodies to peripherin, a known marker of type II afferents. Individual TH-2A-CreER neurons gave off short branches contacting 7–25 outer hair cells (OHCs). Only a fraction of TH-2A-CreER boutons were associated with CtBP2-immunopositive ribbons. These results show that TH-2A-CreER provides a selective marker for type II versus type I afferents and can be used to describe the morphology and arborization pattern of type II cochlear afferents in the mouse cochlea.

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Acknowledgments

Supported by NIDCD R01DC006476 and R01DC012957 to EG, NIDCD R01DC011741 to PAF, NIDCD P30 DC005211 to the Center for Hearing and Balance, NS050274 to the Department of Neuroscience Multiphoton Imaging Core, and by support from by the John Mitchell, Jr. Trust and the David M. Rubenstein Fund for Hearing Research. We thank H. Hiel and M. Lehar for the help with electron microscopy. AZ was supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Author Contributions

PV, JSW, and EG designed research; PV and JSW performed research and analyzed data; AZ designed and produced the Th 2a-CreER mouse; and PV, JSW, PF, and EG discussed results and wrote the paper.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. The Center for Hearing and Balance, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 720 Rutland Avenue, Ross 824, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

      Pankhuri Vyas, Jingjing Sherry Wu, Paul Fuchs & Elisabeth Glowatzki

    2. Department of Neurobiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

      Amanda Zimmerman

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    1. Pankhuri Vyas
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    Correspondence to Paul Fuchs or Elisabeth Glowatzki.

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    Pankhuri Vyas and Jingjing Sherry Wu contributed equally to this work.

    Paul Fuchs and Elisabeth Glowatzki contributed equally to this work.

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    Vyas, P., Wu, J.S., Zimmerman, A. et al. Tyrosine Hydroxylase Expression in Type II Cochlear Afferents in Mice. JARO 18, 139–151 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10162-016-0591-7

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