Dual Origin of the Epithelium of the Mammalian Middle Ear

• Autores: Hannah Thompson, Abigail S. Tucker
• Localización: Science, ISSN 0036-8075, Vol. 339, Nº 6126, 2013, págs. 1453-1456
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The air-filled cavity and ossicles of the mammalian middle ear conduct sound to the cochlea. Using transgenic mice, we show that the mammalian middle ear develops through cavitation of a neural crest mass. These cells, which previously underwent an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transformation upon leaving the neural tube, undergo a mesenchymal-to-epithelial transformation to form a lining continuous with the endodermally derived auditory tube. The epithelium derived from endodermal cells, which surrounds the auditory tube and eardrum, develops cilia, whereas the neural crest–derived epithelium does not. Thus, the cilia critical to clearing pathogenic infections from the middle ear are distributed according to developmental derivations. A different process of cavitation appears evident in birds and reptiles, indicating that this dual epithelium may be unique to mammals.