Molecular conservation and novelties in vertebrate ear development

B Fritzsch; K W Beisel

doi:10.1016/S0070-2153(03)57001-6

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Molecular conservation and novelties in vertebrate ear development

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Molecular conservation and novelties in vertebrate ear development

B Fritzsch and K W Beisel

Current topics in developmental biology, Vol.57, pp.1-44

2003

DOI: 10.1016/S0070-2153(03)57001-6

PMCID: PMC3904738

PMID: 14674476

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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/3904738View

Open Access

Abstract

Evolution shaped the vertebrate ear into a complicated three-dimensional structure and positioned the sensory epithelia so that they can extract specific aspects of mechanical stimuli to govern vestibular and hearing-related responses of the whole organism. This information is conducted from the ear via specific neuronal connections to distinct areas of the hindbrain for proper processing. During development, the otic placode, a simple sheet of epidermal cells, transforms into a complicated system of ducts and recesses. This placode also generates the mechanoelectrical transducers, the hair cells, and sensory neurons of the vestibular and cochlear (spiral) ganglia of the ear. We argue that ear development can be broken down into dynamic processes that use a number of known and unknown genes to govern the formation of the three-dimensional labyrinth in an interactive fashion. Embedded in this process, but in large part independent of it, is an evolutionary conserved process that induces early the development of the neurosensory component of the ear. We present molecular data suggesting that this later process is, in its basic aspects, related to the mechanosensory cell formation across phyla and is extremely conserved at the molecular level. We suggest that sensory neuron development and maintenance are vertebrate or possibly chordate novelties and present the molecular data to support this notion.

Hair Cells, Auditory - metabolism

Animals

Vertebrates - genetics

Ear - growth & development

Vertebrates - embryology

Ear - embryology

Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental - genetics

Transcription Factors - genetics

Body Patterning - genetics

Vertebrates - growth & development

Auditory Pathways - growth & development

Evolution, Molecular

Details

Title: Subtitle: Molecular conservation and novelties in vertebrate ear development
Creators: B Fritzsch - Creighton University, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Omaha, Nebraska 68178, USA
K W Beisel
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Current topics in developmental biology, Vol.57, pp.1-44
DOI: 10.1016/S0070-2153(03)57001-6
PMID: 14674476
PMCID: PMC3904738
NLM abbreviation: Curr Top Dev Biol
ISSN: 0070-2153
eISSN: 1557-8933
Publisher: United States
Grant note: R01 DC004279 / NIDCD NIH HHS R01 DC005590-03 / NIDCD NIH HHS R01 DC04279 / NIDCD NIH HHS R01 DC005590 / NIDCD NIH HHS
Language: English
Date published: 2003
Academic Unit: Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Biology; Craniofacial Anomalies Research Center
Record Identifier: 9984070726502771

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